Bottesford NHW Alert: TV Licence Refund Scam 31/03/2017 plus Tips to Avoid Scammers / Law Abiding Citizen Fraud Alert 03/04/2017

TV Licence Refund Scam 31/03/2017 plus Tips to Avoid Scammers

Notts Trading Standards have received reports that there is a scam email circulating stating that people are entitled to a refund of their TV Licence fee.
 
The aim of the emails is to steal bank details.  The link in the email sends people to a website that looks like the TV Licensing own website with a form to complete.

Always be suspicious of unsolicited emails that are supposedly from a trusted organisation because the address can easily be faked.  Never a click on any links before stopping to check that they are genuine.

Genuine emails from TV Licensing will never ask you to provide bank details or personal information. 

7 ways to spot an email you’ve been sent is a scam:

1.    The sender’s address doesn’t match the website address of the organisation it says it’s from. Roll your mouse pointer over the sender’s name to reveal its true address.

2.    The email doesn’t use your proper name – using something like “Dear customer” instead.

3.    There’s a sense of urgency, asking you to act immediately.

4.    There’s a prominent website link which may seem like the proper address, but with one character different.

5.    There’s a request for personal information.

6.    There are spelling and grammatical errors.

7.    The entire text of the email is within an image rather than the usual text format and the image contains an embedded hyperlink to a bogus site. Again roll your mouse pointer over the link to reveal its true destination.

For further details regarding TV Licences and how to obtain a refund please visit their official website at www.tvlicensing.co.uk

Law Abiding Citizen Fraud Alert 03/04/2017

Action Fraud report that fraudsters are sending out a high volume of phishing emails to personal and business email addresses, pretending to come from various email addresses, which have been compromised.   The subject line contains the recipient’s name, and the main body of text is as below:   “Hi, [name]!   I am disturbing you for a very serious reason. Although we are not familiar, but I have significant amount of individual info concerning you. The thing is that, most likely mistakenly, the data of your account has been emailed to me.   For instance, your address is:   [real home address]   I am a law-abiding citizen, so I decided to personal data may have been hacked. I attached the file – [surname].dot that I received, that you could explore what info has become obtainable for scammers. File password is – 2811   Best Wishes,”   The emails include an attachment – a ‘.dot’ file usually titled with the recipient’s name.

 

This attachment is thought to contain the Banking Trojan Ursniff/Gozi, hidden within an image in the document. The Ursniff Banking Trojan attempts to obtain sensitive data from victims, such as banking credentials and passwords. The data is subsequently used by criminals for monetary gain.

Protect Yourself:
 

Having up-to-date virus protection is essential; however it will not always prevent your device(s) from becoming infected.   Please consider the following actions:   Don’t click on links or open any attachments you receive in unsolicited emails or SMS messages: Remember that fraudsters can ‘spoof’ an email address to make it look like one used by someone you trust. If you are unsure, check the email header to identify the true source of communication (you can find out how by searching the internet for relevant advice for your email provider). Do not enable macros in downloads; enabling macros will allow Trojan/malware to be installed onto your device. Always install software updates as soon as they become available. Whether you are updating the operating system or an application, the update will often include fixes for critical security vulnerabilities. Create regular backups of your important files to an external hard drive, memory stick or online storage provider. It is important that the device you back up to is not connected to your computer as any malware infection could spread to that as well. If you think your bank details have been compromised, you should contact your bank immediately.

 

If you have been affected by this or any other fraud, report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040, or visit www.actionfraud.police.uk.

 

 

John Shilton

Principal Co-ordinator

Bottesford Parish NHW

Email: JohnS@bottesfordparishNHW.org.uk

Mobile: 07725636626