Very Plausible Scam

not scam related but another thing to remember your driving liscence will expire and you often don't get a reminder. Once renewed on line you can continue to drive. The older you get the shorted the validity period on your liscense

I pay mine monthly then I don't need to remember renewal dates.

I got one. I knew it was a scam because my car is a motability one.

Another scam is a phone call from Track and Trace saying that you have been in a place where someone has now tested positive for Covid 19. They then ask for your bank/card details as they want to book an emergency test. These tests are free! Never give bank/card details over the phone.

Following on from yesterday’s post - we also pay our TV licence monthly - at least with a direct debit we can prove payments, as I think paperwork’s being phased out?

I know GNs are savvy - but wonder how many furloughed staff have been hoodwinked by these scam calls at home, as they’re just not as familiar with them, as are we?

This year I’ve had and heard of many scams, Amazon, PayPal, TV licence, Tax Rebate etc. But the most ridiculous was a call from a woman claiming to work for my car insurance company telling me that they’d calculated my insurance incorrectly last year and that she could take a card payment over the phone now, I told her that I shopped around and chose on price and that if they made an error they have to suffer the consequences. She got shirty with me and put the phone down No follow up call, email or letter.

Not a spam but could have caused a problem.

I nearly got caught out on the car tax. You might remember that, at beginning of lockdown, there was an announcement that our car tax would run for an extra few months. I checked my car tax on the DVLA and it had been postponed until December. It was pure chance that I discovered the original dates had been reinstated if it was originally due after June.

I warned several people who had not realised the rules had changed,

Golden rule. Don't click on links or open e-mails you do not recognise. Never give out personal details over the phone, computer or at the door. The scammers come across as professional and have no conscience whatsoever.

Had a text message last week telling me there was a problem with my PayPal account. Knew it was a scam as I don't have a PayPal account......

There are so many of these scams, email and phone, some so ridiculous that you wonder how anyone could be taken in by them but, sadly. they are and often very intelligent who one hears quite regularly have been scammed out of their life savings. These crooks are truly evil,but since it seems most of the calls come from the other side of the world there is nothing TPS can do about them.

I had an email a few weeks ago supposedly from BT telling me that as one of their valued customers I could claim a very expensive prize to celebrate an anniversary of some kind. I have never been a BT customer!

I've had the television licence scam, also one from 'Amazon' but I spotted that Amazon in the email address was mis-spelt. One email purported to come from someone I know asking me to buy an Amazon voucher on their behalf.
Telephone calls about computer problems seem to come in batches - several in one week then a break. We're on a break at the moment, thank goodness.

Any suspected phishing/scam emails should be forwarded to: [email protected]
Refer to the website for more information on this: www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/report-suspicious-emails
When you have forwarded the email, mark it as 'Phishing' and then 'Block' the sender before deleting it from your email account.
Phishing/scam texts should be forwarded to 7726.

My son got one, apparently from a good friend of his, saying that his wallet and passport had been stolen while he was on holiday, and could he Fedex him some money. It sounded really genuine, but he’s not a fool. He phoned the friend’s family and, yes, it was a scam.
I often get the one saying that my Amazon or Paypal accounts are frozen.
The most convincing one was when I had ‘text chatted’ on Facebook Messenger to a friend in Australia for ages. After we had texted for quite a while she told me about a group who was giving money away. You just had to contact the agent and tell them which charity it was for. When I expressed disbelief she assured me that she had been given $5,000, and gave me the agency’s email address. Still finding it hard to believe, I signed off and went to bed. Next day she contacted me to say that her Facebook had been hacked, and I had been chatting to the hacker! He must have studied her writing style, and the names of her, and my family members, and was amazingly accurate. No doubt if I had contacted the ‘agent’ he would have asked for my bank details in order to transfer the money for my chosen charity.
For anyone gullible it might have worked. Fortunately I am a cynic who disbelieves and checks anything involving the exchange of cash.

Spangler, I had exactly the same email. My car is exempt from tax payment, even though I have to go through the motions of renewing it every year on line, but no money changes hands. I successfully did this in August and printed the receipt. I, too, have reported this scam to the DVLA and had an automated acknowledgment. If you look closely at the email, some of the grammar is very suspect.

Here’s a new one! Text to say I have been called for jury service, link looked exactly the same as gov website, only realised that it was a scam when it asked for bank details to ‘verify my identity’

Rose56: That one is obviously a scam as Jury service information comes in a brown envelope through the post! Glad you didn't get caught out.

I've just had my third similar scam email purporting to be about my television licence - but they wouldn't address me as "Dear Customer", more pointedly, the sender's email address wouldn't be a hotmail account. I do wonder how many people just assume they're legitimate and click on the links. I guess the thieves are making money or they wouldn't keep doing it.