Scams and How to Protect Yourself

We have been alerted to some scam activity in our area, so we wanted to alert you to the different types of Scams around today.
There are many ways a scammer may contact you:
On your doorstep, by post, over the phone or online.
Doorstep Scams
These can take many forms, an unexpected knock on your door pretending to be people like a trader, or charity working, they may be friendly but you shouldn’t trust them.What to do: Stop, Lock, Chain, Check.
Mail Scams
Post containing false claims or offers that try to steal your money.
What to do: Reject, Report, Ignore, Verify, Opt Out, Reduce.
Phone Scams
Be wary of uninvited or unexpected calls, and remember you can always hang up the phone if someone’s making you feel uncomfortable.
These scammers can pretend to be from your bank or police, trying to get personal information from you, neither your bank or the police would do this.
Pushy sales calls or investment opportunities that seem to good to be true.
Calls about your computer or mobile phone.
The person calling may say your device has a virus and ask you to download software to fix it. This is actually spyware, an unwanted program that runs on your computer and can give scammers access to all your online information.
Be wary of any cold calls or texts from strange numbers offering products or services, such as pension or debt management.
Calls claiming to be about correcting your Council tax band or giving you a Council Tax rebate. The Council would never call you about a rebate out of the blue.
What to do: say No, report any scams, Check the line, Use an answerphone, check your calls, try call blocking, cut the cold calls, call the company, avoid links.
Email and Online Scams
Scammers may use fake emails or websites pretending to be legitimate or trying to tempt you with fraudulent offers.
What to do: use a strong password, Ignore attachments, leave the links, Check the website address, report and delete, don’t reply, double check, filter junk, stay virus-free, check your preferences, trust your instincts, do your research, use secure payment methods.
Relationship Scams
Scammers trying to earn your trust through a pretend relationship to get money from you.
What to do: Report and block, keep safe, keep details private, money matters, check them out.
Identity Theft
Scammers trying to get hold of your personal details to access your savings or run up debts in your name.
What to do: Act quickly, Double-check, watch your account, keep PINs and Passwords safe, use strong passwords, watch your cards, stay safe online, phone security, bin carefully, when you move.
Investment and Pension Scams
Scammers trying to steal your pension, perhaps by offering seemingly attractive but fraudulent investment opportunities.
What to do: Stay calm, Don’t commit, Stop the call, Think about foreign fraud, check adverts carefully, listen to your doubts.
As a general rule if any of the above attempts happen to you then the first thing to do is Stop! Think and then Report.
Extract from the AgeUK Guide on Avoiding Scams, Ways to protect yourself. Which you can find via https://www.ageuk.org.uk
You can also order free printed copies of this and other guides or factsheets by emailing order@ageuk.org.uk or calling their advice line on 0800 169 65 65.