Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

Only last month I highlighted recognising the scam TV License e-mail people nationally and locally have been getting – there are more coming as the scammers have been very successful in getting people to part with their money.

Although ‘most’ people pay their TV License either by standing order or by direct debit,
some still pay by cash or stamps at shops.

Of course the best answer is know when you License is actually due?

Action Fraud has received more than 5,000 reports about fake emails and texts purporting to be from TV Licensing. The messages contain links to genuine-looking websites that are designed to steal personal and financial information. 

Always question unsolicited requests for your personal or financial information in case it’s a scam. Never automatically click on a link in an unexpected email or text.

For more information about how to stay safe online, visit cyberaware.gov.uk

There have been numerous crimes involving people who state they are calling from British Telecom or Openreach.
They will state that there is an issue with the Homehub/Wi-Fi and because of the slow speed you are due compensation.

In order to receive the compensation, the potential victim will have to provide private information and this is all intended to cause a financial loss.

BT will not call you like this, ignore, put the phone down, ask them to write to you as they will know where you live if they really are BT. This is just a scam, especially if you are not a BT customer.

Do not respond to investment opportunities from a random phone call or email. If you are lucky enough to have money to invest, use your bank or an independent financial advisor, go into a branch, is it covered by the Financial Conduct Authority?

Wine investment was used in a scam last month at a cost of thousands to the victim.

Don’t be fooled by high interest returns, or be fooled into investing your pension fund without advice from trusted sources.
Would you get multiple quotes for building work? Yes? Then why would you not get multiple quotes for investing? Don’t accept anything on face value.

A near miss for someone occurred when they received an automated telephone call from a suspect purporting to be from the HM Revenue and Customs.

The digital message stated that there was a warrant out for the callers arrest and the police would be at the address within the next hour.

The automated message invited the victim to push a key on their phone to hear more information, they were then transferred to a real person.

During the conversation the suspect stated that the caller owed nearly £3000 in tax from the year 1980.

The potential victim did not pay eventually suspecting a scam.

The caller later received another phone call from the same suspect however, when the caller stated that this had been reported to the police the suspect terminated the call.
No financial loss. 

Do not respond to any instructions from an automated telephone call. The automated call is a lazy way the criminal can call multiple numbers at the same time and then just sits back waiting for someone to press 1 or another key on their keypad which then diverts the call for the criminal to answer.

HMRC is used a lot to entice people into reacting, but equally look out for BT, DVLA, TV licensing, utility companies and many others.
There are no get rich quick schemes on the internet. You get nothing in life for free.

Avoid investing in Bitcoin (crypto currency).

A few weeks ago a victim saw a post on Facebook about Bitcoin investing, so the caller then clicked on the link (NO!) and was invited to fill out an online form, including their email address and phone number and then submitted it to the website.
The caller then began to receive various calls from different people who were asking the caller to make investments. One suspect stated they were from a financial investment agency, and would be able to offer the caller great investment deals with high returns. (RUBBISH?) The suspect then asked the victim to visit a website (FAKE!) and create an account, which they did. The victim then made a payment of £130 however, when the victim typed in their bank details into the website the payment failed. The suspect then asked for the victim’s online banking password, which the caller refused to give over the phone.
The victim terminated the call sensing all was not well.

The victim then emailed the suspect stating that they were no longer interested in the investment opportunity.

The suspect then began to use WhatsApp to contact the victim, trying to convince them to make an investment. The potential victim eventually realised it was a scam. The victim continued to receive emails from the suspect, but in the end did not pay the fraudster.

Mr Nigel Sutton (8517)
Economic and Cyber Security Advisor
Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Hinchingbrooke Park|Huntingdon|PE29 6NP
Landline: 01480 422773
Mobile: 07894177311

CyberProtectCambs@cambs.pnn.police.uk

An elderly person receives a telephone call from the suspect purporting to be a Police Officer.
The caller asked them would they do if they needed help, she replied dial 999.
The caller told the victim that to prove who they were, they should put the phone down and dial 999 which the caller did.

The victim did this, or so they thought, and felt reassured that having dialled 999 they were talking to the same person and that they must in fact be the police.
The victim was asked whether they had used their bank card recently.

The suspect said that money had been taken from her account to purchase a TV and camera, the victim denied making the purchase.
The suspect asked the victim how many bank accounts they had and how much money was in each of them.

The elderly person was told that they would receive another call the following day. (This did not happen)
After the first call, the victim mentioned it to a family member who immediately took steps to prevent any money from being stolen from the accounts.

The Police WILL NOT telephone anyone and ask for personal information.

If any caller invites you to put the phone down and redial a number in order to prove who they are, then ensure there is a dial tone when redialling. If you don’t hear it, it is most likely that you are still connected to the original caller. Yes, this scam is really still going on.
If you have elderly family, please ensure their telephones have adequate call filtering and are aware of this scam. Most providers will assist account holders in setting up various types of call blocking.

Mr Nigel Sutton (8517)
Economic and Cyber Security Advisor
Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Hinchingbrooke Park|Huntingdon|PE29 6NP
Landline: 01480 422773
Mobile: 07894177311

CyberProtectCambs@cambs.pnn.police.uk

A news story has just hit my inbox which I would like to bring to your attention especially if you own an Apple iPhone.

Beware of a new phone-based phishing scam that spoofs from Apple Inc.
Scammers are calling people under the pretense that they are from Apple. 

It starts with an automated call that display’s Apple’s logo, address and real phone number, warning about a data breach at the company. The message will instruct you to call a 1-866 number (US) before doing anything else with the phone.
At this time, I cannot confirm if such calls have been received in the UK.

If you receive a suspect call, your screen may display the following image:
A security expert contacted the genuine Apple support about the contact and they stated that they would not make such a call. For further information about the scam, please copy and paste the following link into your browser:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2019/01/apple-phone-phishing-scams-getting-better/

Best wishes
Mr Nigel Sutton (8517)
Economic and Cyber Security Advisor
Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Hinchingbrooke Park|Huntingdon|PE29 6NP
Landline: 01480 422773
Mobile: 07894177311