The banking trade body said that this Christmas, more people across the nation are expected to shop online than ever before and there are high chances that con men will take advantage of this.
According to Intelligences from UK Finance Trade body, malicious actors’ are sending purportedly phishing emails from genuine delivery companies, claiming that companies have been unable to deliver parcels, large letters or packages and later requesting recipients to send their personal and financial information such as their date of birth, address, bank details, and mobile numbers along with a fee in order to rearrange the delivery.
It also has been observed that in certain cases, bank customers are also receiving a phone call from the fraudsters as their bank’s fraud team, suggesting them to move their money to a safe account or reveal their passcodes.
Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance said, "We are urging people not to give gift to fraudsters this Christmas and to follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign. Criminals will stop at nothing to commit fraud and that includes exploiting the festive season to target their victims".
Steps to Prevent Fraud Campaign:
• According to intelligence, people must be vigilant against phishing emails with fake links which can lead people to fake platforms and will ask them to fill in important data, particularly personal and financial. It can be seen that these emails may appear more genuine and trusted but be aware of any fraud scam like this which can cost you more than you expect.
• People are advised to check their delivery notification attentively to ensure that they are genuine. Criminals are employing the same pattern as genuine companies use for their customers.
• Customers should always remember that they are about to claim and hence, they should ask questions to the authorities or companies before sending information and money.
• If one feels that the company is not genuine then he is advised to contact the company directly before sending any form of information.
• Last and also the most important step to take is to report and register a complaint on a genuine platform if you are being attacked by any fraud or scam.
