Scams Q&A - how to avoid being caught out

General tips from Age UK

Here's our scams checklist:

If an exciting offer seems too good to be true, think about the following warning signs and ask yourself if it's a scam.

• Was the offer unsolicited? Companies shouldn't need to cold call you for trade. Most property repair businesses are kept busy by repeat customers or recommendations.
• Do you have to respond quickly? What's the rush?
• Do you have to pay for a prize or 'free' gift?
• Are you being asked to pay an advance fee so that money can be transferred to you?
• Do you have to ring a premium rate number (one starting with '09')?
• Are you being asked for your bank or credit card details?
• Is the business reluctant to give you its address or contact details?
• Are you being asked to keep the offer confidential? Be wary. Take advice before making a decision to buy or invest. Ask your family and friends what they think or, if you're thinking of investing, contact your bank.
• If you're getting to know someone online, are they asking for personal information while revealing very little about themselves?

There's nothing wrong with being sceptical, especially before signing anything or handing over money or personal details. A legitimate company won't mind you checking their credentials before you deal with them.

Visit our scams hub for more information about all types of scam and to download our free guide 'Avoiding Scams' www.ageuk.org.uk/scams. You can also order the guide by calling Age UK Advice on 0800 169 65 65.

Report fraud to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud

Why not subscribe to Action Fraud's Neighbourhood Alerts to find out about scams operating in your area and nationwide? www.actionfraud.police.uk/support-and-prevention/sign-up-to-action-fraud-alert

To reduce unwanted contacts you can:

• Register their number with the Telephone Preference Service www.tpsonline.org.uk, 0845 070 0707.
• Report unsolicited marketing calls to the Information Commissioner's Office ico.org.uk/concerns/marketing, 0303 123 1113.
• Use a product to block telephone calls. TrueCall www.truecall.co.uk
CallBlocker www.cprcallblocker.co.uk
• The Mailing Preference Service (MPS) is free and may help reduce unsolicited mail. www.mpsonline.org.uk, phone: 0845 703 4599.
• People who want to report a potential postal scam can write to Royal Mail at Freepost Scam Mail, phone: 03456 113 413, or email [email protected].
• No Cold Calling - door stickers. Some trading standard services or community police teams provide these.

Pittcity

We have a sign by our front door that is very effective and a call blocker on our landline.
Why has this scamming and cold calling got worse in recent years, when we are being told that the law has been tightening up?

Changes in technology have made it easier and cheaper for people to make huge amounts of calls.

In April this year, the law changed to tackle cold calling. It makes it easier for the Information Commissioner's Office - the independent body that upholds our rights around personal information - to fine companies in breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Act. Companies are still allowed to make marketing calls without prior permission, but they must check the Telephone Preference Service which people can sign up to for free to opt out of these calls.

Despite this, cold calling continues. People who don't want to receive these calls should register with the Telephone Preference Service, call 0845 070 0707 or visit www.tpsonline.org.uk

And it is important to remember that cold calling is done by legitimate businesses and illegal scammers. The change in the law will not impact scammers who have no interest in obeying the law. But it should, over time, reduce cold calling from legitimate businesses. For more detail see the Nuisance Calls Task Force report and this useful article.

Granny23

Co-incidentally, I have, today, received an e.mail. allegedly from HMRC asking me to complete a form to reclaim an overpayment of Tax of nearly £500. Double deleted straight away. How did I know it was a scam? Easy my total tax paid last year was under £100

Hi Granny23, please see answer above re. email scams.

phoenix

Some people are using Freecycle to scam. They post that they have an item available, usually a laptop or a large screen television. The give the reason for giving away a laptop is that they have just got a new job, and have a company laptop with it. For the television it's usually something about splitting up with partner and moving back in with parents/granny etc.

If you show an interest you will find that they have just moved out of the area, but you can still have the item if you are prepared to pay courier costs!

Scammers are always finding new opportunities to relieve us of our money, so thanks for posting about this scam. Be wary of anything where the transaction agreement or terms change! Freecycle is an online platform to gift unwanted items to residents in your local area in order to reduce the amount of goods that go to landfill; this person is not keeping within the spirit of Freecycle.

It's relevant here to talk about online shopping and internet auctions in general, which have grown in popularity over the last few years. They've opened up the opportunities for scammers and the subsequent complaints. Action Fraud has some useful tips on staying safe while shopping online and using online auction sites: www.actionfraud.police.uk/fraud_protection/online_shopping

grandma1949

There seem to be an ever-increasing number of scams that involve making a call to a number, which in turn then causes the caller to be charged an astronomical fee eg £150 per minute.

Why can't the telephone companies put a stop to these? I have heard it reported that the 'phone companies say they can't do anything!

If you are asked to dial a number beginning with 09 be wary, as numbers starting this way are premium rate. Ofcom has just introduced some new regulations on the way that calls to numbers starting 084, 087, 118, and 09 are charged.

Now when you dial a number beginning with 084, 087, 09 or 118, the cost will be split into two parts: an access charge, set by your provider, and a service charge, set by the company you're calling. Each provider has their own access charge and this can depend on whether you are dialing from a home phone or a mobile. They could be up to 44p a minute and then the service charge is on top of that amount.

Organisations are supposed to make their service charge clear to you. The charges are capped by Ofcom. Calls to numbers beginning with 09, for example, are capped at £6 a call or £3.60 per minute. There's no cap on 118 numbers so these could be even higher.

If an organisation is charging more than the capped rate per minute for their number, it could mean that they are acting illegally, or possibly that you have been asked to call a number overseas. If in doubt, do an internet search on the number to see where it is located or to check the area code.

You can also report suspect calls to phonepayplus which regulates premium rate numbers and has the power to stop fraud and fine offenders. They also have a 'number checker' service which allows you to check any suspicious telephone numbers. It is also worth reporting the company, if UK-based, to Action Fraud or to Ofcom.

glammanana

I never open emails from anyone claiming that my accounts have been frozen or compromised I just delete them straight away and phone my bank to report it,I have made sure my neighbours who are on line are aware of all these scams as some of them use the internet for their everyday living and could be taken for a ride by these scammers,when I have time I delight in keeping a phone caller on the line for as long as possible.

Email offers a cheap way of reaching large numbers of people for very little cost, so it's popular for both honest and dishonest purposes. Here are some common signs that an email is a scam:

- the sender's email address doesn't match the organisation's real website address
- the email uses a general greeting like 'dear customer' instead of your actual name
- there's a sense of urgency, e.g. threatening to close your account if you don't act immediately
- there's a link that may look similar to the proper address but is in fact slightly different and will take you to a fake website
- you're asked for personal information, such as your username or password.

Banks and other financial institutions will never ask you for your personal information in an email.

Never reply to scam emails, even to say 'no'. This will let the sender know that your email address is active and it is likely to encourage them to send more.

Most email accounts can be set up to block spam (i.e. unwanted emails), so check your settings or the help pages of your email account.
You can report attempted fraud to Action Fraud i.e. where you haven't actually lost any money - reportlite.actionfraud.police.uk/

Judthepud2

Anyone who cold calls me gets short shrift! I don't answer calls that register 'withheld number'. I am a cynic through and through, learned behaviour from DH who takes no prisoners!!

AshTree

Me too, Judthepud2. My DH and I never answer 'withheld number' calls. It can be a nuisance, though, to keep to this rigidly as we have missed appointment confirmation calls from the hospital more than once. So now we tend to answer them if either of us has an upcoming appointment.
We also tend never to answer calls from unknown numbers on our mobiles. Instead we google the number afterwards to find out who it is and the google result is invariably that they are nuisance calls. How irritating life has become with all this technology! We wouldn't be without it though

durhamjen

I was going to ignore a number withheld call yesterday, but decided not to. It turned out to be from my GP about some results. She said sorry, she had called from her mobile instead of the surgery phone.

You could register with the TPS to reduce nuisance calls from legitimate businesses and you might want to consider a call blocker which will screen calls (more detail about both in the answer above). It is also very useful to have an answer phone because genuine callers will leave a message, especially to remind people about appointments.

gammon

I think the main thing holding people back is embarrassment. We helped a neighbour a while back who had lost a lot of money by giving his account details to his supposed bank 'for verification'. He was utterly mortified that he had been duped and once we had an inkling of what was going on we had to drag the information out of him. How do we get out of this way of thinking that scams are to be ashamed of? We're all human and they catch you when you're at your most vulnerable.

My brother too, who considers himself the worldliest of people, was taken advantage of. This was at an ATM and he was distracted by the lady behind him and next thing he knew his card had disappeared (so had she!) and by the time he got to the bank down the road, a chunk of money had been withdrawn. It's the oldest trick - they all are - but surely human nature is to be trusting? How do you protect yourself without becoming a horribly sceptical shrew?

£5 billion is the estimated amount lost each year by UK consumers to mass-market scams. Nearly half of all people in the UK (48%) have been targeted by a scam, yet just 5% of scams are reported. A new Age UK survey has found that 53% of older people (aged 65+) believe they've been targeted by fraudsters, and that while many do not respond, of those who do 70% of people of all age groups said that they had personally lost money. The research suggests that a third of older people who responded to a scam may have lost £1,000 or more.
www.ageuk.org.uk/latest-news/over-half-of-people-aged-65-targeted-by-fraudsters/

There are lots of reasons why people may not report scams, and embarrassment is one of them, but 3 million people fall victim to scams every year! Hopefully, the scale of scams should help people not feel as embarrassed. Also, scammers deliberately pressure people to make a fast decision and people as a result are less discerning than they would otherwise be. Many people instantly regret their decisions but it pays to be suspicious of people putting you under pressure to make a decision.

There are so many scams that it pays to be firm, but not impolite. Scammers play on people's decency and unwillingness to hang up or close the door on people. And there's nothing wrong with being sceptical - especially before signing anything or handing over money or personal details. A legitimate company won't mind you checking their credentials before you deal with them.

If we were all prepared to share our experience of scams, and look out for others in our communities then we may be able to prevent others from falling for a scam and ultimately catch the scammers. If we refused to be rushed by scammers into making a decision, or refused to be hushed into silence by a sense of shame, we could create a community of informed, confident consumers alert to the dangers and assertive with 'out of the blue' contacts. This is what Scam Awareness Month 2015 is all about.

LyndaW

My mum gets incessant calls from 'the worldwide web' regarding a supposed virus on her computer. Luckily I was there the first time they called because although she's very capable online, she's a very trusting person and could quite possibly have given this man her details. I'd like to know how we can stop these calls? Or prevent them in the first place? How did she get on to the database in the first place? She also gets loads of PPI calls (as do most of us I'm sure).

This is a type of telephone fraud where scammers will call you claiming to be from the helpdesk of a well-known IT firm, such as Microsoft. They'll tell you that your computer has a virus and will charge you to upload 'anti-virus software'. This turns out to be spyware, which is used to get hold of your personal details. Never respond to an unsolicited phone call from someone claiming that your computer has a virus. If you receive a call like this, hang up straight away. Legitimate IT companies don't contact customers this way. Ensure that your computer has up-to-date security software.

Unfortunately, it's quite common to find that once you've answered these types of calls the fraudsters will share your details with other scammers, because they know you are a real person. The upshot is that you will receive more calls of this nature.

To stop nuisance calls register with the Telephone Preference Service, their registration line is 0845 070 0707 or visit www.tpsonline.org.uk. This will stop unwanted calls from some law-abiding companies, but unfortunately not scammers. To reduce scam calls you could invest in a call blocker. There are two types of call blocking devices: those that come preinstalled with a phone, and those you buy separately. Both allow you to screen the calls you receive but each offers a different level of protection. They can be an expensive purchase (up to £100). Contact your Local Council to see if they can provide one free of charge. Your telephone provider may also provide a range of additional services to protect you from unwanted calls.