Tag: action fraud

Action Fraud Scam Calls

The scam typically goes like this:-

  1. The victim receives a cold-call from a fraudster claiming to work for Action Fraud.
  2. When the call is answered, an automated system asks the responder to “press 1 if they have made a report to Action Fraud.”
  3. When the responder presses 1, they are transferred to a fraudster.
  4. The victim is informed that their computer has been hacked and their bank account has been accessed without permission and money taken.
  5. The scammer may ask some simple questions to build trust e.g. are the lights on your router flashing? Do you have credit cards? Do you have more computers in the house?
  6. The scammer may ask the victim to run some programmes on their PC and use the results on screen to ‘prove’ that the computer has been compromised.
  7. The scammer asks for access to the computer and ask the victim to install remote control software to make it possible for the scammer to take control.
  8. Once they can control the computer the scammer can search for financial and personal information an if possible access the victim’s bank account.
  9. Victims discover later on that money has been stolen from their account or maybe days later that someone is spending on their credit card etc.

What Can You Do?

Even if the caller is knows details such as your name or address, don’t give out any personal or financial information during a cold call.

Don’t give a caller remote access to your computer, don’t go to a website they give you and don’t install software they recommend or supply.

Action Fraud does not use an automated machine to speak to victims of fraud, so if you receive a suspicious call, hang up immediately.

If you think your bank or payment card details have been compromised, or if you believe you have been defrauded, contact your bank immediately.

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Who Are Action Fraud?

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ActionFraud is the UK’s national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre.

The website is www.actionfraud.police.uk/ and it’s designed for people to report fraud and cyber crimes. They don’t take action against these criminals but they do build up intelligence of the relevant crimes that happen.

ActionFraud is linked with The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) which sits alongside Action Fraud within the City of London Police and they are the national policing lead for fraud.

The NFIB collates and analyses intelligence on fraud, identifying viable lines of enquiry and developing packages for submitting to a police force for investigation.

What happens to my report once has it been made to Action Fraud?

The website says that the reports are sent for assessment by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) helping to build a national picture of where fraud and cyber crime is taking place and how. Experts review the data from these reports to decide whether there is enough information to send to a police force for investigation.

The NFIB aims to send you an update in writing around 28 working days after you have made your fraud report, to advise you what action has been taken on your report.

It’s clearly a good idea that information and reports on these crimes are made to one organisation rather than being spread across all of the Police Forces and that there are experts assessing the level and location and patterns of activity in these crimes

The Action Fraud website does have a lot of information on how to prevent being defrauded  and guidance on aspects of the law but it is primarily for reporting such crimes. And they do warn people of latest scams and related activity.