A new ‘fraudwave’ of sophisticated new cons have even cyber crime experts falling for them and losing thousands of pounds according to the Daily Telegraph. The number of text scams has risen sharply during the Coronavirus emergency as criminals try to take advantage of the unique circumstances of the pandemic.
According to credit-reporting agency Credit Karma, more than half of Brits (53 per cent) have been targeted by text scams since lockdown began in March last year – and almost a third of us have fallen for them. The average person receives four scam messages a week, it believes.
Hoaxes purporting to be from Royal Mail and PayPal are most likely to have caught us out, but fraudsters posing as the NHS and HMRC are also proving successful. Chances are high that at some point in the past year you’ll have received a message on your mobile enticing, cajoling or scaring you into putting your money at risk.
If you believe you are the victim of a scam, report it to Action Fraud, actionfraud.police.uk.
Suspicious texts should be forwarded free of charge to 7726 – this reports the message to the mobile operator to investigate, and is how such activity gets shut down.
If you’ve been affected, contact thecyberhelpline.com, a volunteer organisation that helps victims of cyber crime.
For more advice, visit takefive-stopfraud.org.uk