What you can learn to protect yourself

▪ BE WARY of text messages requesting payments or asking for personal information. They may appear to come from legitimate firms such as Royal Mail or DHL but could be from scammers trying to steal your details for a further scam.

▪ MAKE sure you have unique passwords for your online accounts. If you use the same one for all and a password is leaked, fraudsters can run it through software to check where else it has been used and access your other accounts. You can check if your email or phone number has been breached using haveibeenpwned.com.

▪ IF YOU receive a text from your bank about a suspicious payment, call the number on the back of your card rather than responding to the message. You can report suspicious texts for free by forwarding them to 7726, which spells out ‘spam’ on a mobile keypad.

▪ YOUR bank will never ask you to move money into a ‘safe account’. If you receive a call from its fraud department asking you to do this, hang up and ring the number on the back of your card — ideally on another phone. You can also find the correct number on your statements or the bank’s website.

▪ IF YOU notice odd payments on your account, report them to your bank immediately. Transactions made without your permission must be refunded unless you have been grossly negligent with your details. If it refuses, you can challenge this.

▪ IF YOU are pestered by fraud attempts, make sure you report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or at actionfraud.police.uk. This will help put a stop to fraudulent operations.

Those in Scotland should call Police Scotland via 101 or Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000.