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Card skimming
This refers to a situation where your credit or debit card has been 'cloned' by a device attached to an ATM machine, or been skimmed through a specifically designed card reader. This gives the fraudster the opportunity to recreate an exact copy of your card, giving them access to your funds.
- When using any ATM machine, do not insert your card if you notice any signs of tampering, or unusual devices near the card slot. Notify the bank or service provider immediately.
- When you make a genuine transaction, unscrupulous vendors can then read and store your card details and sell them on to criminals. Petrol stations and restaurants are often targeted.
- Be wary when your card goes out of sight. If paying in a restaurant, for example, ensure that you pay via a portable Chip & PIN reader, or stand by the till when your card needs to be read.
- Check your transaction statements regularly and contact the card issuer if you spot anything suspicious.
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Phishing
Phishing is the practice of sending spoof e-mails which try to persuade unsuspecting victims to supply confidential bank and personal details. The e-mails will appear to come from what at first glance looks like a genuine bank or payment service, and will contain links to genuine looking websites. If you supply the personal details that they are seeking, the fraudster is then able to use them to run up bills in your name.
In practice, a genuine company will never ask you to supply such sensitive details in this way. If you do receive a communication of this sort, do not respond, or click on any of the links in the message, or copy and paste any of the links from the message into your browser.
Instead, forward it to the bank concerned and report it to Bank Safe Online (please see what to do section to access a full catalogue of useful links) .
Furthermore, you may notice (in the bottom left hand corner of your monitor) an address appearing whenever you run your computer mouse's terminal over a link in an email. Here, if you are dealing with a phishing email, it is quite likely that you will notice how the address in the bottom left-hand corner does not tally with the company name or address that the email is supposed to be from.
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Boiler rooms (share scams)
Boiler room fraud is so called because of the high pressure selling techniques used by those involved. This scam often begins with a cold call at home or at work by someone trying to convince you to invest in shares that they are selling. The caller usually makes the opportunity sound exciting, exclusive, promising and profitable. The shares are, however, worthless or non-existent. It is possible to lose a substantial sum of money to these boiler room scams.
The reason that many people fall for boiler room scams is that the caller seems professional, sympathetic, and may be working for what sounds like a major, well-known, company and are utterly plausible.
These boiler rooms are often situated abroad and, as a result, are not subject to regulation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) - so once you lose your money, you have no redress. If you are thinking of buying shares, be very sceptical of any approach from someone you don't know (e.g through a cold call) and always check the FSA register to check who is regulated and properly authorised to sell you shares.
If you have been a victim of this type of fraud, or believe that you are being targeted by a boiler room, you should report the matter to Operation Archway. Operation Archway is the national boiler room reporting system and is operated by the City of London Police.
Operation Archway can be contacted by e-mail at operationarchway@city-of-london.pnn.police.uk
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Lottery scams
These start with an unsolicited letter, telephone call or e-mail telling you that you have won a prize in a lottery. The only catch is that you need to pay money (frequently referred to as a customs fee, 'government certificate' or administration fee) to allow the funds to be transferred safely and legally to you. Often these scams will use the names of respected organisations, police forces or official bodies to try to make them seem legitimate. Of course, there is no lottery and no prize and it is possible to lose a considerable amount of money to the criminals who operate this type of fraud.
Remember, you can only win a competition if you have entered it! If you receive a letter/call/email informing you of a huge win in a lottery that you have never entered, then you know it is a scam.
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"419" or "advance fee" fraud
This type of scam offers the opportunity to earn a substantial sum of money by allowing funds to be transferred to your account and then passing on a proportion of these to another party, keeping the remainder as your commission. These tend to be in the form of a letter or email and may appear to be genuine at first glance as they frequently purport to come from high-ranking government or banking officials, and even charities appealing for funds. These scams often claim that you have been recommended by a business contact as a highly respected and trusted individual with high integrity, which can dupe recipients even further into thinking that the request is legitimate.
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Money mule scam
This is a form of money laundering, where the so called 'money mules' (having been recruited online by fraudsters) receive a transfer of money into their account which they are then instructed to wire to another account, in exchange for a small commission payment.
If you agree to be a 'money mule' in this way, not only does this leave you at risk of identity theft (by having to reveal your personal and account details to the fraudster) but it is also illegal, so you would risk prosecution! The Bank Safe Online website contains further information about how this scam works.
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