Category: Warning

December 31, 2018

The Worst Scams of 2018

1. Remote PC Problem Scams

This scam is largely carried out by scam call centres in India. They phone people (mostly in the UK and USA) and claim to be from Microsoft or BT or Virgin or similar company and tell the victim that their Internet connection has been infected with a virus or that someone unauthorised is using it or that it has been used for illegal purposes. Then after the frightener they convince the victim that they can fix the problem and just need access to the victim’s PC. Once they get access they can install malware that searches for financial details, logins and passwords etc.

Microsoft, BT etc. will never call people like this – these calls are always a scam.

2. Fake/Counterfeit Scam

We have all seen fake goods being sold on the high street, in pop up shops, on the beach etc.

And the Internet is full of websites that copy the big names but sell fake versions of their products.

Don’t be caught out – only buy from reputable sources and don’t encourage crime by buying fake goods.

If you buy fake goods online, the fraudsters are likely to copy your credit card details and run up a huge bill for you to pay.

3. The Overpayment Scam

You sell an item online and the buyer ‘accidentally’ sends you a cheque for too much. A worried call then ensures and the caller asks you to pay them the difference. This sounds OK but it’s a very bad move as the original cheque will bounce, leaving you out of pocket. Many people do not realise that although a cheque clears within 5 days, the bank can take the money back up to another 5 days later if the cheque bounces. If you are overpaid then wait 10 working days before repaying any difference.

4. The Payday Loan Scam

Some people take out payday loans just to tide themselves over for a few days at the end of the month after an unusually costly month.

But many take out these expensive loans in desperation to fend off bailiffs, keep the electricity running, pay for medical bills etc. and these are the people targeted by scammers.

The scammers create fake websites that look like payday loan companies but are just a front. You are offered cheap loans with no collateral but once they have your financial details, they will make your life much worse off and even more in debt. Be very careful with payday loans online – only trust a reputable company.

Sometimes the scammers offer loans but you have to pay a security fee or advance fee up front – always a con.

5. Working from Home Scam

Many people would love to work from home and earn a good salary. There are some such jobs but most don’t get advertised as they are usually for people already at a business changing their working habits to work more from home.

There are some very well paid home jobs including translators, writers and other jobs where serious expertise is required, whereas the fake jobs offered by scammers are usually data entry, social media posting etc. that require little skill and supposedly pay hugely.

These are always fake. It is easy to find good data entry people for £10 per hour so why would anyone pay a lot more than that?

Research shows that more than 98% of work at home offers are fake. Do not be taken in.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.

December 20, 2018

Christmas Scams

Fake Websites – There is a big increase in fake special offers, email alerts etc in the lead up to Christmas as scammers try desperately to attract you to their websites. Most of these fake sites are copies of well known and trusted sites such as Marks and Spencers, Amazon, Bentalls etc. The sites are either phishing sites designed to get your login information or sell poor quality copies of well known products. Be careful visiting any retail websites that you haven’t used previously.
Social Media Gift Exchange – This is a fairly new scam whereby exchanging gifts or purchasing and selling may seem a good plan but scammers turn these into schemes where they make money and everyone else loses.
Grandparent Scams – Scammers target pensioners, pretending to be a grandchild that has been injured in an accident and needs financial help immediately. They hope the emotional impact of a hurt child may lead people to react and send help without thinking though what’s going on or verifying the situation first.
E-Cards – More people than ever are sending e-Cards at Christmas and scammers create fake websites and advertise them on social media to attract punters. But instead of an e-card they take your login details and payment details and make money from you. Be careful using a new e-Card website.

Be careful more than ever online at Christmas.

If you have any experiences with scammers, spammers or time-waster do let me know, by email.

December 17, 2018

Advanced Online Blackmail Scam

Online blackmail scams are a class of scam emails that attempt to force people into paying money to prevent disclosure of their online activities. The scam works by leading the recipient to believe their computer has been hacked and their secrets recorded on video by the scammer.

The scammer then threatens to release those videos to the public, to the recipient’s friends and family, social media friends etc.

In almost all cases, the scammer knows nothing beyond the recipients email address, so the whole thing is a hoax but it does lead some people to pay up (in Bitcoins, anonymously).

However, some scammers go to the trouble of buying personal details from other criminals to make their blackmail seem more believable.

Imagine you receive a threatening email but the scammer knows your password, which accounts you have, date of birth, family names or similar then the whole hoax becomes a lot more believable.

BUT, the scammer has not hacked your computer – they have simply bought that information. They get their information mostly from data breaches – the hackers sell this data to other criminals.

You may think your details have never been involved in a data breach (as you’ve never been told that your data was compromised) but if you want to be sure then check the website https://haveibeenpwned.com/ and input your email address. It will tell you which (if any) data breaches your email address was involved in and you may be surprised.

The data the criminal has may well be out of date so you may find the password they quote in the blackmail is an old one that you have previously changed, but if the password quoted is currently valid then you need to take precautions immediately in case the criminal tries to use your accounts.

The emails are very general – trying to scare the recipient into believing that the sender has found something that the recipient cannot allow to be disclosed to the public or to their family and friends.

Clearly, this wont work on many people, but for the scammers it’s a numbers game. They hope by sending out huge numbers of these emails randomly they will hit some people frightened enough to pay up.

The email title is something like “Your life can be destroyed – everything is in your hands”

The message contains badly written sentences designed to frighten but be general enough to potentially include as many people as possible.

e.g.

“I uploaded the malicious program on your system”

“I pilfered all privy background from your system”

“I have more compromising evidence”

“After adjusting, your camera shot the videotape of you”

“My malware collected all your social and work contacts”

“When I get transaction I will destroy all evidence in perpetuity”

The scammer wants a payment in Bitcoins and sets a short time limit for the payment.

I hope that no-one responds to this attempted blackmail, but who knows.

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November 22, 2018

Ghost Car Insurance Brokers

The Police have warned that thousands of motorists could be unwittingly driving without insurance because of fraudsters known as “ghost brokers” selling fake policies.

Men in their 20s are most likely to be targeted by ‘ghost brokers’ who often contact victims on social media, particularly Facebook and Instagram. They also advertise on student websites or money-saving forums, university notice boards and marketplace websites and may sell insurance policies in pubs, clubs or bars, newsagents and car repair shops.

City of London officers report that detectives have received more than 850 reports of the scam in the last three years, with victims losing an estimated total of £631,000.

These criminals who sell fake insurance policies to unsuspecting drivers are known as ghost brokers; they carry out the fraudulent act in one of three ways:

Forging insurance documents, so there is no genuine policy of any kind
Falsifying a driver’s details to lower insurance costs, but the policy can be invalidated when the insurance company finds out the truth
Take out a genuine insurance policy then quickly cancel it and claim the refund as well as the victim’s money.

A national campaign has now been launched to warn drivers to be wary of heavily discounted policies on the internet or cheap insurance prices they are offered directly.

Some victims only realise they do not have genuine cover when they are stopped by police or try to make an insurance claim after an accident.

Police have taken action in 417 cases linked to “ghost broking” in the last three years, including one man who set up 133 fake policies.

How to avoid a ghost broker

Buy insurance directly from an insurance company’s website. If you want to use a broker, visit the British Insurance Brokers’ Association website and check the broker is FCA registered
Be cautious of brokers trying to sell insurance through social media, newsagents and pubs
Trust your instinct – if an offer looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Be wary of insurance brokers who only use a mobile phone or email to contact you

If you suspect a ghost broker is trying to contact you, call the fraud bureau on 0800 422 0421.

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November 1, 2018

Facebook Caught Over Onavo APP

Facebook created an APP called Onavo which is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and it’s free and a lot of Facebook users have downloaded the APPLE and Android versions.

A VPN is way to keep your identification and IP address confidential and it encrypts all data passed between your browser and any websites you visit while using the VPN.

People use VPNs to protect their privacy so what do Facebook do? They thought it was a good idea to collect all of the data passed through the VPN software and use it for their own purposes.

They were caught out because this breaks the rules that APPLE impose on all APPS registered on iTunes so APPLE told Facebook to remove the Onavo APP from their APP store.

The word ‘private’ in Virtual Private Network should have told Facebook that its users want privacy – and that definitely includes privacy from Facebook which should not have been recording the users actions and using that data.

Mark Zuckerberg claims in court and on TV that he’s so sorry that Facebook has made mistakes and will learn from these problems. But they appear to simply carry on with the same disregard for people’s privacy.

Apple’s strong commitment to protecting user data and privacy led them to update the privacy guidelines with a ban on apps that “collect information about which other apps are installed on a user’s device for the purposes of analytics or advertising/marketing.”

Onavo is still on Google’s APP store – let’s hope Google wakes up to this and removes the Facebook APP.

Be warned – if you use Onavo it will spy on you.
It’s better to find a more reputable VPN.

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