KNOW YOUR ENEmIES...
THERE are many different types of scams and some are more common than others. Certain types of fraud are now becoming more prevalent in the current climate. These include:
Impersonation scams
Barclays’ most recent scam data suggests that impersonation scams, where fraudsters take advantage of consumers by pretending to be from a reputable organisation or the police, are up 21 per cent.
Jim Winters, from Barclays, says that impersonators appear to come from a variety of reputable places.
‘Impersonation scams may come from someone reporting to be from a utility company, a service provider or a government department such as HMRC. They may tell the victim to make urgent payments or try to obtain personal information,’ he says.
‘There is often an elaborate story such as fraudsters have been trying to access a bank account or the local bank staff are being investigated for fraud. The scammers may even have some personal information to make the call seem genuine.’
Purchase scams
UK Finance says its latest intelligence shows a rise in purchase scams, particularly on Christmas gifts and home improvement products.
In these cases, a customer pays in advance for goods or services that are never received. More than £27million was lost to such fraud in the first half of 2020, according to UK Finance figures, amounting to an average loss of around £720 per case.
Katy Worobec, at UK Finance, says buyers of games consoles, bicycles and clothing are at high risk — as well as those making home improvement and DIY purchases, with social media platforms, online marketplace and auction websites all particular hotspots for these types of fraud.
Data-harvesting scams
Katy adds that criminals may also step up data-harvesting scams this year, with more people shopping online for Christmas. These scams attempt to prompt consumers to provide details through phishing emails advertising cheap goods and by impersonating organisations and businesses. They then collect financial and personal information, including debit and credit card details, and this information is later used to commit fraud.
PayPal fraud scams
Rather than aiming for people buying items, Action Fraud, the UK’s fraud prevention website, says that these type of scams typically target people selling goods via online marketplaces such as eBay, something many people are doing to try to make some extra money for Christmas.
The fake emails trick victims into believing they have received payment through PayPal for the items they’re selling on the platform. Thinking they have been paid, the seller then sends the item to the criminal.
Action Fraud says this has led to nearly £8m in losses in the nine months to September.
‘We know that criminals will go to great lengths to target people on online marketplaces, especially now many more people are selling items online due to the coronavirus pandemic,’ says head of Action Fraud, Pauline Smith.