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With more of us working from home, and being on lock down, which is being lifted soon, you might think that fraudsters and scammers and being scammed would drop in the numbers of it happening. But you would be wrong in your thinking.
Scams are on the rise!
And so a logical question to ask is, how can I avoid being scammed?
One Simple Way to Avoid Being Scammed
Never give out your personal details, especially anything to do with your bank account, or credit cards.
And I mean never!
The police would never ask you for these details, even your bank would never ask you, so why then would you give them out to someone???
The Mice Get Smarter
There are so many scams out there, we could never cover all them here. One I have personally have seen lately is what I call the old text message from your bank scam.
You receive a text message that appears to be from your bank stating you have:
- Made a payment to someone and if not click here.
- You have added a new payee to your bank account, if not, click here.
- Are you in (insert country here), as your account has been debited, if not….once again…..click here.
You get the point of it all.
Your bank has not sent you the message, and by clicking on the link you could very well be providing information to someone who’s only desire at the moment is to take your money.
My Favourite Scam
Scams are not good, and saying I have a favourite one, is probably not good, but this one is clever, and really bold.
You receive a phone call from the police stating your account has been used in a criminal way, a fraud, scam, etc. The police who phone you state you need to phone your bank now, this to limit your liability, or make you a part of the crime.
You hang up, and phone your bank immediately.
However, the fraudster on the line who stated they were the police, which they were not the police, did not hang up or put the phone down, they did not break the connection. So then when you phone what you think is your bank, you have the scammer/fraudster again, only this time pretending to be your bank.
And getting what details they can to get your money.
My advice on scams and fraud would be:
- Never give your details out.
- If you receive a call from anyone, get their details, say you will ring them back, but then use a different phone or line to ring your bank.
- Be vigilant at all times regarding scams.
- Be careful what you share on social media, be very careful.
- Don’t click on unknown links or hyperlinks, or open unknown emails.
- Research online sellers, and look up reviews.
And as our Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has stated, “Mistaking the genuine for a scam is nowhere near as bad as mistaking a scam for the genuine.”