Mobile Test Copy - Scam Week

Scam Week: Go Further with The Open Univeristy

Each day of scam week, a new folder unlocks with more tips, tricks and interesting facts to keep you safe from scams.

WIFI SCAMS

Investments

Impersonation

Scam safe TEch

JOB SCAMS

Purchase Scams

NEW

Anti-Scam Tech

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

Job Scam Emails

Would you be able to tell a real job opportunity from a scam one? 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...

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Job Scam Emails

Would you be able to tell a real job opportunity from a scam one? 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...

Start >

Your New Life Starts Now 🤑

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 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

28 Nov, 3.15pm

From: Dr F MarigoldTo: me@mecloud.com

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Can You Spot An Investment Scam Site?

Think you'd spot an investment scam? Test your sleuthing skills by clicking on any suspicious text you can find in our interactive 'website'. When you're done, click the 'red flags' button to see if you got them all.

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Why Aren’t You Addressing Me Personally?

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

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.

Urgency!

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.

Why Is It Costing Me?

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, this is covered under the Employment Agencies Act 1973.

Urgency!

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.

Mind Your Grammar

Everyone makes spelling and grammar errors from

time to time, but lots can be 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 whether the email is genuine; if the email has been generated by AI, for example, it is unlikely to contain grammar errors.

Who Are You?

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

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 easily to do, either through the company’s website or using websites like LinkedIn.

Celebrity "Endorsement"

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!

‘Risk free’ or ‘low risk’ investment

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.

Why Am I Being Asked to Click?

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.Quite apart from job scams, this is how many phishing attacks are carried out; the landing page looks 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.

No Paperwork

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.

Why Are You Offering me a Job Without an Interview?

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

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.

Watch Your Currency

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

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.

Personal Details

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.