This blog is an update on 3 common scams we have found to be active recently. These are scams to be looking out for other the course of the month as they get more popular.
Damaged Parcel Scam:
This scam is a variant of a delivery scam where an attacker pretends to be a delivery company. In this case, they contact you to tell you that the postage label is damaged and you need to confirm your address and pay a small fee to release your parcel. This is just adding another layer of complexity to a scam to convince victims to pay.
The scam might not seem to ask for much but it sets you up to be a target for larger scams that may involve more personal details and larger sums of cash.
Anti Virus Renewal Scam:
You would receive a phishing email from a scammer disguised as an email about your anti-virus software. The email would claim your anti-virus needs to be renewed or you will lose protection. Scammers often add a sense of urgency to their emails to get you to act on instinct and not logic. This scam will often include some personal information like your full name. Information that can be easily accessed from your social media. The best thing to prevent these scams is to lock down your privacy settings on your social media and ensure your email security is up to date.
This scam might seem basic but sometimes simplicity can be effective.
Monthly Payment Scam:
You might receive an unexpected call from a scammer informing you that you have subscribed to a pay monthly service. The scammer then proceeds to ask for payment details to make payment. If the scammer has these details, they will be more than happy to use them for future scams.
Cyber Wise recommends you never respond to emails you suspect to be phishing. Never hand over financial or personal information over email. If you think you are receiving a scam call, the best thing to do is to hang up and call the company back on their support number on their website. If you have fallen victim to an attack like this and you can see unauthorised payments being made, you should always call Action Fraud and your bank to freeze your account.