Scam Week

NEW

JOB SCAMS

OTHER SCAMS

WIFI SCAMS

investment scams

SCAM TECH

SCAM TECH

IMPERSONATION

Each day of Scam Safe week, a new folder will unlock, with more tips, tricks and interesting facts to keep you safe from scams.

BBC Scam Safe: Go Further with The Open University

NEW

OTHER SCAMS

IMPERSONATION

SCAM TECH

investment scams

OTHER SCAMS

IMPERSONATION

SCAM TECH

JOB SCAMS

WIFI SCAMS

Each day of Scam Safe week, a new folder will unlock, with more tips, tricks and interesting facts to keep you safe from scams.

BBC Scam Safe: Go Further with The Open University

1 new message

Mum! It's me. I got robbed! I'm using Andy's phone now. Could you please..

now

Friday, October 25

23:47

For a longer read and a deeper dive into scam avoidance techniques and anti-scam tech, click below to read our online brochure.

Anti-Scam Tech

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Would you be able to tell a real job opportunity from a scam? Tap 'Start' below, and you'll see a new email arrive. Click on anything you see that looks like the hallmark of a scam - then check your answers by tapping the yellow button...

Job Scam Emails

See all the warning signs!

From: Dr F Marigold To: me@mecloud.com

28 Nov, 3.15pm

Dear Sir! My name is Dr Marigold, I’m very impressed with your CV and would like to offer you a job, since we think you would be a good fit for the role, which I trying to fill. My company will pay you handsomely for working from home, $45,000. Please click on the topjobs link to confirm your interest www.topjobs.co.uk Regrettably, my company will have to make a charge of $50 to verify your right to work. Sincerely, Dr Marigold

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recruiter will always know what your name is because they will have seen your details from somewhere you have submitted them. If somebody doesn’t know your name, they are likely just guessing at who you are.

Be wary of emails which don’t address you personally; a genuine

Why Aren’t You Addressing Me Personally?

Beware of high-pressure investment ‘opportunities’ - the ones that push you to ‘buy now’ for a saving or discount and the ones that imply that you’ll miss out, big time, if you don’t go for whatever’s on offer immediately. Being encouraged to impulse buy anything is a warning signal. Take time to think things through properly.

Urgency!

A genuine recruiter will not ask for payment before processing your application. In the UK, it is not lawful to charge somebody to find a job for them, and this is covered under the Employment Agencies Act 1973.

Why is This Costing Me?

Beware of high-pressure investment ‘opportunities’ - the ones that push you to ‘buy now’ for a saving or discount and the ones that imply that you’ll miss out, big time, if you don’t go for whatever’s on offer immediately. Being encouraged to impulse buy anything is a warning signal. Take time to think things through properly.

Urgency!

time to time, but lots can be a warning sign. Genuine companies will take time and care to make the tone of their communication professional, with good use of the reader's language. However, we can't rely on the existence of grammar errors as an indicator of whether the email is genuine; if the email has been generated by AI, for example, it is unlikely to contain grammar errors.

Everyone makes spelling and grammar errors from

Mind Your Grammar

contact with somebody of this name, think about whether the person is a genuine individual. If in doubt, look at the company from which the individual is purporting to come and verify if the company employs somebody of that name. This can be relatively easy to do, either through the company’s website or using websites like LinkedIn.

If you don’t recognise the sender’s name and have had no previous

Who Are You?

Watch out for sales pitches that encourage you to invest by claiming that some famous personality either endorses the scheme or has actively invested in it themselves – the scammers are just trying to make their argument seem legitimate. Ask yourself seriously why any well-known, high-earning individual would need to put money into a ‘get rich quick’ project. It’s vanishingly unlikely!

Celebrity "Endorsement"

Any promise of a ‘risk-free’ or ‘low-risk’ investment is a definite red flag. No-one can predict how markets will react from one day to another – they are notoriously volatile. Remember, even experts cannot reliably guess whether investments will go up or down, so regard any ‘sure thing’ promise as false.

‘Risk-Free’ or ‘Low-Risk’ Investment

It is very easy for an email to be crafted such that the URL showing in the email is not the URL you land on if you click. Quite apart from job scams, this is how many phishing attacks are carried out. The page you land on will look like a genuine login, for Microsoft 365, for example, but the URL in the address bar will be something entirely different. If you enter your details, the scammer will have the login details associated with what you thought was the genuine website, and can use them elsewhere.

Why Am I Being Asked to Click?

Step away from any investment deal that does not supply a copy of the terms and conditions for your own records. If the terms and other details are not provided in writing, they can be changed without an investor’s knowledge or consent. Be careful not to fall into this trap.

No Paperwork

somewhere, which they might have seen? More importantly, why are they offering you a job without completing an interview and doing due diligence checks? These checks might be frustrating when you’re applying for a real job, but they provide some sense of being able to establish who the employer is, as well as, from the employer’s point of view, verifying who the employee is.

Ask yourself where this person has found your CV. Have you uploaded a public copy

Why Are You Offering Me a Job Without an Interview?

own, this can mean that the company is either not aware that they are emailing a UK address, or the company is based overseas and not aware of the UK currency. However, this alone would not be an indicator that the email is fraudulent, because a company overseas could offer to pay you in their local currency.

If the payment is offered in a currency which is not your

Watch Your Currency

Scammers will try to get as much personal information about you as possible – if they don’t catch you with the approach they’re using now, they can use that information later for another fraud. Personal details are very valuable – just a name, address and date of birth is enough to allow criminals to steal your identity. So be super cautious when filling in online forms or when talking to unsolicited callers.

Personal Details