Due to the way we are all currently working, we are seeing a lot more reliance on email and phone for communication and fraudsters are using the coronavirus outbreak to try more scams by email, call and text. Fraud can happen to anyone, including you. We want you to be extra wary of scammers contacting you and asking for personal details and/or payments.
Scam Messages – What should you do?
Scam emails, texts and social media messages can pretend to be from us or from other companies you trust.
What you should do:
- Do not open emails, texts, or social media messages if you do not know who sent them.
- Check whether the sender looks and sounds legitimate.
- Even if you know the sender, do not reply if the message looks odd with spelling mistakes and a messy layout.
- Do not reply if the message makes strange requests which are uncharacteristic of the purported sender.
- Do not click on any links or attachments unless you know they are safe.
- Do not call any telephone numbers unless they are numbers that you recognise and trust.
- Be wary of any instructions, offers or requests which are time pressured. The scammer does not want you to take any time to think about this properly.
- Be particularly wary of emails or messages asking you to make a payment, telling you that bank account details have changed, or asking for personal information such as passwords.
- If you are unsure about a request or instruction, use a separate, established form of communication, such as a trusted phone number and try to speak to a voice you know you will recognise and trust.
Scam Calls – What should you do?
Scam calls may sound professional, but just because someone knows your details and calls on a number that looks like ours, it does not mean they are genuine.
What you should do:
- Reject unexpected or ‘out of the blue’ offers.
- If you are unsure of who the person on the phone is or do not recognise their voice, hang up.
- Be particularly wary of phone calls asking you to make a payment, telling you that bank account details have changed, or asking for personal information such as passwords.
- If you want to check that a caller is real, ask them if you can call them back on a number you trust. If they are genuine, they should not mind you doing this.
For further advice and guidance on handling emails safely and being “Cyber Aware” please refer to the National Cyber Security Centre website www.ncsc.gov.uk.
