THE LATEST SCAM

QI received a text message recently from a company I’ve never heard of. I don’t think it was a scam, but I also don’t know how they got my number. Since then, I’ve been receiving emails from companies I’ve never signed up to. Is this harmless, albeit annoying, or am I being scammed?

AJAMES SAYS It depends what your definition of ‘harmless’ is. Today, our personal data is constantly being gathered without our knowledge, and then sold to other companies. This is exactly how these mysterious companies have your contact details. Some of these companies will go on to target you – and could potentially scam you out of thousands of pounds, or share your private information online. To prevent this, find out who has your data and request its deletion, through sites like Rightly. Then, get into good habits – be vigilant about what you’re giving away, opt out of marketing communications and remove your details from as many databases as possible.