Cheat using heat to scam victims
MANY people tried to do as little as possible during this week’s sapping heatwave – but not fraudsters.
They were as busy as ever, inventing scams to take advantage of victims in the sweltering temperatures. With more heatwaves potentially on the horizon, here are three scams to watch out for.
NHS WARNING
Simon, in South London, received a text message, supposedly from the NHS, headed HEAT-HEALTH WARNING. It said there is a heat health warning in place for his area and told him to click for important advice and instructions which must be followed.
Simon told me the link looked like it would go to an NHS webpage, so he clicked it. But then the page went blank, rousing his suspicions. Since hearing from Simon many have told me about this scam.
WATER BOARD MESSAGE
Candice, of King’s Lynn, Norfolk, received a text on Monday which read URGENT MESSAGE FROM THE WATER BOARD PLEASE CLICK HERE.
A link was then provided which Candice immediately followed because her area had been affected by a burst mains water pipe. She had no doubt it was genuine.
But immediately after she realised it was a fake as the web page looked bogus. It was full of typos and, more importantly, was headed “Severn Trent Water” not Anglian
Water which is her supplier. She phoned Anglian Water which confirmed no such text messages had been sent out.
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Lots of readers received text messages and emails on Sunday night about school closures.
Among them was Abigail, from Swansea, South Wales, whose email read: “IMPORTANT SCHOOL CLOSURES UPDATE. Please take note, due to the severe heat weather warning in place for the next three days Government
has taken the decision to close schools across the country.
“An up to date list of school closures can be seen by clicking the link below”
Abigail said as the potential for school closures had been widely reported in the media she did not for one second think this was a scam so promptly clicked the link to see if her daughter’s school was going to be closed.
However, on looking at the list it immediately became apparent this was not a genuine email.