Share your thoughts and experiences of financial fraud and/or scams with Take Five to Stop Fraud - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

So, MNers can win £300 but GNers only get £150
Did you mean to post this on here Ellie?

Is it a financial scam?

Thanks Ellie

Never answer a phone call if you don't recognise the number.
When the other party has hung up, check the number on www.whosenumberisthis.co.uk

A recent communication from the Post Office contained the following security tips to help protect against internet fraud. I've copied and pasted them below as I found them helpful. Hope others do too.

​ 1. Accessing your account
•Never access a link that has been provided in an email and enter personal details
•Always ensure there is a padlock displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the page, this indicates a secure connection

2 Keep your PC secure
•Use up to date security software and a personal firewall and if your computer uses the Microsoft Windows operating system, keep it updated from the Microsoft website
•Be extra careful if using Internet cafes, chat rooms and social networking sites or any PC which is not your own and over which you have no control (fraudsters often use them to try and access personal information)
•Stay with the computer: When you are browsing through any internet browser do not keep the computer unattended for any period of time
•Clear history and temporary files: Internet Explorer and other browsers saves pages that you’ve visited in the History folder and in Temporary Internet collection. Your password is also saved if that system is activated on your computer so do the following before you start browsing:
•For Internet Explorer : Go to Tools / Internet Options
•For Firefox : Go to Tools / Options / Privacy Tab
•Click the Content tab then click AutoComplete. If the checkboxes for passwords are selected, deselect them. Click OK twice

3. Check your statement
•Ensure you check your current statement at regular intervals. If you notice anything irregular contact us immediately

4. Other things to remember
•Always remember your password and other security information and destroy the notification letters immediately
•Always take reasonable steps to ensure your PINS and passwords are kept secret at all times

Today I have had an email from my bank to say my statements are available.
I never go into my bank account from a link in an email. I always go through their own website. This is what the bank told me to do years ago.

I also never ever click on a link to access a website to do anything to do with finances! My daughter who is very savvy told me that ages ago. I always key in or go to the company's website independently.

Re the "sixth sense" - funnily enough (but this is about real life scammers). Years ago my husband came home to say that he had been approached by someone to invest in a "high risk, high yield" scheme. We carefully researched the company, he met with the representatives and came home and told me how much to invest. Everything about it made me recoil but I couldn't put my finger in why. So I said this to my husband, who responded with "Don't be silly, these people are watertight, they have offices in Knightsbridge and drive Bentleys". We invested and guess what? It turned out to be a high-end "Ponzi" scheme and the main operators ("consultants") ended up with a jail sentence. We, of course, never saw our money again. Sheepish is too mild a word to describe my husband at that time.

I have also experienced an incident whilst drawing money at an ATM in a classic "distraction technique" scam, but once again my sixth sense kicked in and I elbowed the two women who had approached me from either side to tell me that the "ATM was faulty" and told them to get out of my space. So yes I do have a sixth sense.

If someone is offering you something that looks too good to be true it almost certainly is. We used to all think caveat emptor but these days with no one being accountable for their own actions we expect everyone to be honest. They are not.

Not every legitimate caller comes from a known number so if in doubt answer the phone but be careful what information you give out. If told to call back to verify who the caller is first call a friend or another known person to check the phone line has been disconnected and then call a number you have checked out yourself.

Never follow a link in an email, go to the website and find the link there.

We have never been scammed but people have tried to in all the usual ways. Simply distrust anyone who contacts you if you are not expecting to hear from them.

I was the victim of a scam just last week. I got my mobile phone bill in and it was much higher than usual on inspection of my bill I seen that it said I have been calling the same premium number which I did not recognise on multiple occasions.

I am not 100% sure how I became a victim to this but I did some research and seen a scam that a number calls you and if you answer even for 1 second your scammed its been around for about 1 year and 1/2.

I called my phone company "Three" and they were great about it they credited me the charge from my bill and they have put a block on my phone restricting me calling any premium number in future which will give me piece of mind and if I do need to call a premium number I will just have to use my landline.

My bank account was also compromised about a year ago a fine stone company in China tried to withdraw money from my account but my bank flagged this up and declined the payment and notified me as they knew this was suspicious activity.

I do have internet security etc but these scammers are professionals and will always find a way

My sister noticed that some money was missing from her bank account, after much deliberation the bank reimbursed her for the loss, but I don't think we ever did get to the bottom of how the money disappeared.

I never click on links in emails there are lots of scammers trying to get your information. Paypal ones are very common and look realistic but always go on to the website to check never through an email.Also get a lot of phone calls saying they are from windows and there is a problem with my computer .Always put the phone down on them.Also when getting "free" trials always read the fine print I have known people who have had lots of money taken from their accounts because they did not relise what they were signing up for

I had my ebay account hacked and taken over by someone in China! I was unable to log in and had to ring them, when I was told what had happened. It took two calls to put everything right ... I had to change my personal details back to what they should be and change my password. Luckily, I had no items up for sale at the time. A frightening experience!

Luckily I’ve never been a victim of fraud, I try to keep complicated passwords & check bank / credit card balances online daily

I never go to a link from an email.

I get so many emails that are supposed to be from banks, supermarkets, paypal, all sorts of companies that the majority of people will deal with that are fake. I never open them. But I do worry that I will miss something real and important by trying to avoid scammers.

My experience is when my my, who had bought a timeshare whilst on holiday in Lanzarote, 25 years ago, (when they were popular), yes she had several holidays with the time share, but after my dad died did not use her timeshare. She received a phone call which asked for a payment of £1000 up front. and she would receive upwards of £11,000 for her timeshare (much more than it was worth). Luckily my mum (aged 85) is quite savvy with her money, (others might not be) and burdened with this timeshare which was on her mind quite a lot, spoke to me about it, I looked on-line and could not find this company anywhere, I 'googled' the phone number and it was listed as a scammers phone number. After I had found this out, I managed to block the phone number on my mums landline, and then called the police (Actionfraud) who took details of the company and the story behind it. My mum never did sell her timeshare - to be honest it was almost worthless as no-one really wanted or used them anymore, but to my knowledge she has had no more telephone calls asking to sell her timeshare for her. Hope my story helps.

I have recently had an e mail supposedly from the tax man saying I had a refund of £300 + due. I understand the tax people never contact us by e mail so I ignored it.

I'm sick of those phone calls about Windows saying you have a problem with your computer. I'm not daft enough to fall for it but if they call someone elderly who doesn't really understand about these scams it's disgusting what they do. I keep warning my Mum & Dad about it & thankfully Dad always just puts the phone down & I've told him never to click on emails about free vouchers for supermarkets as I think they're scams that are going round too.

The main problem is that peoples' greed overcomes common sense. Any interest rate that is way over the norm MUST BE SUSPECT - ask yourself why others are not investing. Any promises of something for nothing MUST BE SUSPECT - what's in it for them? Any communication from someone you don't know MUST BE SUSPECT - don't be tempted to respond! All common sense really.

I never open suspicious looking email.

Be wary and suspicious of any strange emails, postal offers and phone calls. Fraud is rife and you can't be too careful. Don't believe someone just because they say they are your bank, police etc and never disclose personal data to strangers

Don't take advice from other people, even friends. They suggested we take out an endowment mortgage rather than a repayment mortgage, which we wanted, and it cost us many thousands of pounds. Choose yourself, and just don't take the most attractive offers made to you. Keep within the £85,000 safety net, and don't be greedy - a safe low percentage is better than a risky higher rate.

Always call/log-in/text via the official website NOT via a link!