In today’s digital age, where information flows freely and transactions happen with just a click, the threat of scams has become more prevalent than ever.
Scammers are constantly developing new tactics to trick us into revealing sensitive information or parting with our money. From phishing emails to fake investment opportunities, the landscape of deceit is ever-evolving.
This guide will empower you with knowledge and strategies to navigate the real and online worlds safely and confidently. Protecting yourself from scams is not just about vigilance—it’s about being informed and prepared!
In person scams
- To avoid any potential scams, place a “no cold callers” sign on your door and make it clearly visible. Reputable charities and organisations will know not to knock on your door, so anyone coming to sell you something should be considered suspicious. You can buy signs by clicking here, or write your own, but be wary of ink on paper as this can be destroyed by rain and wind. You could print one that is legible and stands out, then, to protect it from weathering, you can get it laminated, placed in a plastic wallet, or stuck against a window on the inside of your home or front door. This will make it clearly visible and protected from the elements. Should anyone still knock your door, and you answer, simply point to the sign and tell them to leave.
- To avoid any potential scams, place a “no cold callers” sign on your door and make it clearly visible. Reputable charities and organisations will know not to knock on your door, so anyone coming to sell you something should be considered suspicious. You can buy signs by clicking here or searching for your own. You can write your own sign, but be wary of ink on paper, as this can be destroyed by rain and wind. Furthermore, you could print one that is legible and stands out, then, to protect it from weathering, you can get it laminated, placed in a plastic wallet, or stuck against a window on the inside of your home or front door. This will make it clearly visible and protected from the elements. Should anyone still knock your door, and you answer, simply point to the sign and tell them to leave.
- Anyone who does come to your door claiming to be from any organisation, including the police, have no right to enter your home without your permission. They must acquire a warrant to forcibly enter your home, and in this unlikely event, request their ID, inspect the warrant, and contact the organisation they claim to be from. Do not use the contact information they provide you with, as this could be fraudulent and will lead you to another scammer on the other end of the phone. Find the contact information yourself in a phone book or online. If in any doubt, call 999 and ask for police assistance.
- If you do answer the door, and you become interested in what they are selling, do NOT accept any deal with them. Do not give them any money or sign any contracts. If, for example, they are a contractor and offering to landscape your garden, ask them for a quote – again, do not let them in your property, especially if you are alone – then get quotes from other service providers to verify the pricing. But again, if you didn’t have the idea of requiring their services or work, then you do not need to feel pressured in taking on any obligation to go through with the work. To find a reputable trader, you can use the “No rogue traders here” service, recommended by Solihull Council by clicking here.
If in doubt – do not answer your door.
On the phone scams
- You can sign up to a service called Telephone Preference Service (TPS). This is a free service and will, by law, forbid cold callers based in the UK from calling you. Sadly, a lot of cold callers and scammers are from outside the UK, but it will help reduce nuisance calls. Again, this is a free service so should you receive any calls or texts messages telling you to pay for the service, they are scams and should be ignored. There are also services that can remove you from postal mailing lists, again all free. These are:
- Mailing Preference Service
- “UK consumers generate millions of pounds of postal sales per year, the majority welcome the information and special offers they receive by post. However, some people might take a different view.The MPS is here to make your choice known – so you get the mail you want and need.”
- Mailing Preference Service
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- Fundraising Preference Service
- “The Fundraising Preference Service is a free service that can help you or someone you know to end contact with charities that you no longer want to hear from. The FPS is the UK’s official service that enables you to manage direct marketing communications from registered charities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are sent by addressed mail, emails, text messages or phone calls.”
- Fundraising Preference Service
- If you do receive an unexpected call from a number you do not recognise, or it has an area code not related to the UK (+44 is the UK code), do not answer it. If this is a scammer then by answering you are letting them know your number is active.
- Should you receive a text message that tells you to click a link to, for example, track a parcel or provide more information, ignore it. This link will take you to a fake website with the goal of recovering your personal information. Never provide personal information.
- Hang up the phone on cold callers and cold spammers. No matter how much they plead or try to keep you on the phone, or what they are trying to sell you. You may worry about being rude by hanging up, but potential scammers will not worry about emptying your bank account.
- Hang up if your bank or police call you and say they are investigating fraudulent activity on yours or anyone else’s bank account or bank card. Especially if they ask you to confirm any of your personal information, bank account numbers or bank pins. The police and your bank will never ask you to do this. Never share your personal information with anyone.
- This also goes for receiving calls from your council regarding council tax rebates or refunds. The council will never call you out of the blue, and even though it would be nice of them to give us a rebate, they will not call and tell you about it.
- Some scammers have got smarter with their tactics. They may have some basic personal information about you: your name, address, mother’s maiden name, and even some of your direct debits. This is to make them sound like legitimate callers, but sadly, this information can be found by bad actors through nefarious channels. Again, if you receive a call you were not expecting from someone claiming to be from, for example, your bank, and the caller is trying to get information from you, then hang up. Contact your bank directly and tell them about the call you have just received, to allow them to investigate any potential problems.
- A popular phone scam is when someone from Microsoft calls and says you have viruses on your computer. Ignore them; Microsoft will NEVER call you regarding viruses – neither will Apple nor any other computer company. This is the scammer trying to get you on your computer so they can install software to solve the problem, but is in fact spyware. Spyware is what it sounds like; It will spy on you. It can view everything you do on your computer, retrieve personal data – such as bank account information, and it sends this information to the scammer. You may also fall foul of rather vicious scammers who, when given access to your computer, will install more viruses on your machine, such as malware and ransomware. These can leave your machine unusable in different ways but allows the scammer the opportunity to tell you they can remove the viruses, for additional costs. If you use a Windows machine, then you should have a program called Windows Defender. This is free antivirus software, included with Windows, and should be all you need to keep your computer safe. Do not let anyone, you don’t know, have access to your computer or devices that store personal data.
- To learn about online safety, click here.
- To learn more terms what is out there, read the scams glossary by clicking here.
Online & Email scams
- Make sure your antivirus software is updated regularly. Windows computers will have Windows Defender built in. It is free software and should be all you need for general internet and email usage. Also make sure your internet browser (Chrome, Opera, Edge, Brave, Firefox) is updated, as they too will have their own protective measures, to stop you from accessing websites that fail to meet certain security measures, i.e., fake sites and scam sites. If you are unsure of how to keep your browser updated, then you can find this by searching for it using Google or Bing: “How do I update the security of (insert browser name here)”.
- Do not reply to emails you suspect to be scammers. This lets them know that your account is active and viable to receive more scam emails. Additionally, do not click any links in the email, even the ‘unsubscribe’ button. Simply ignore and block the sender of the email.
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- Use strong passwords made up of uppercase and lowercase letters, along with numbers and symbols. Also, do not use passwords that hold any personal information, such as your children’s or pet’s names. For example, do not use: “John1987” as this information can be found by dedicated scammers, as well as give them information they didn’t originally have. Instead, try something like; “pNNtyr1drcM!”. This would be practically impossible for anyone to guess, as well as not containing any obvious personal information. It may seem difficult to remember such a random password, but it will stick with you, should you use it enough. I’m sure you have an internet modem at home from your internet service provider, and it has a long and complicated password to connect your devices to the internet. You could use a variation of this, perhaps reverse it and use it for your own password needs. There are password managers that can recommend strong passwords to you, and then securely save them and autofill them for you when you need them. Some browsers also have this feature built into them.
- Do not use public Wi-Fi if you are using banking or financial apps or websites. These public Wi-Fi services can be relatively easily intercepted and hacked, leaving your device open to any would-be scammer.
- Make sure the websites you connect to are secure. You can see this in the address bar, as secure sites will begin with “https”; the “s” stands for secure. You can also see if a site is secure by the padlock icon in the address bar – do not trust a padlock symbol displayed on the website itself, always make sure the padlock is in the address bar.
- Use online retailers that can be trusted. If you find a retailer you have never heard of before, then check them out on Trustpilot (https://uk.trustpilot.com). This is a review website that allows regular people to rate and comment on the companies they use. It can be invaluable when you are surfing online and unsure about any site/company/organisation.
An example of how your address bar should look, to know the website you are visiting is secure. Notice the “https” and padlock.
- Some scammers have got smarter with their tactics. They may have some basic personal information about you: your name, address, mother’s maiden name, and even some of your direct debits. This is to make them sound like legitimate callers, but sadly, this information can be found by bad actors through underground channels. Again, if you receive a call you were not expecting from someone claiming to be from, for example, from your bank, and the caller is trying to get information from you, then hang up. Contact your bank directly and tell them about the call you have just received, to allow them to investigate any potential problems.
- A popular phone scam is when someone from Microsoft calls and says you have viruses on your computer. This is a scam. Microsoft will NEVER call you regarding viruses – neither will Apple nor any other computer company. This is the scammer trying to get you on your computer so they can install software on your computer to solve the problem, but is in fact spyware. Spyware is what it sounds like; it can view everything you do on your computer, retrieve personal data – such as bank account information, and it sends this information to the scammer. You may also fall foul of rather vicious scammers who, when given access to your computer, will install more viruses on your machine, such as malware and ransomware. These can leave your machine unusable in different ways but allows the scammer the opportunity to tell you they can remove the viruses, for additional costs. If you use a Windows machine, then you should have a program called Windows Defender. This is free antivirus software, included with Windows, and should be all you need to keep your computer safe. Do not let anyone, you don’t know, have access to your computer or devices that store personal data.
- A new scam that has gained traction thanks to A.I. voices, is when scammers impersonate the voice of a loved one, and then request money from you. Perhaps they claim their car has broken down, the bailiffs are coming round unless they can pay them, or they’re in jail and need money. The backbone of this scam is that they require money, while also adding urgency to the situation; “please I need £5,000 to pay my debt, otherwise they’re going to take the kid’s beds and everything”. It may be stressful to hear your loved one call you and be in distress, but it’s OK to double-check. Cancel the call, and then call them directly because, as we shared earlier, number spoofing can make a scammers number appear as a loved one’s number. But should you call your loved one directly, then you will avoid the scammer, and can then ask if your potential scammer call was legitimate.
Further information and resources
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Social media scams