Guidance released on common scam attempts

Monday 24 August 2020

With a "continuous stream of scams" targeting Guernsey residents, Bailiwick Law Enforcement and the Trading Standards team have issued guidance on how to identify and avoid fraudsters.

Included in the guidance are details of some of the common phishing attempts the BLE have been made aware of, and advice on who to contact if you suspect a scam.

One such example is repeated attempts to impersonate Sure to obtain personal information. This has taken the form of emails that may contain ‘suspicious hyperlinks,’ to sites where users are told to enter data, or which install malware directly onto one’s computer to steal the data.

These emails can often look authentic, and may claim that recipients are being offered a rebate for last year’s bills, notification of a new invoice, or that their email application has reached maximum memory and will begin deleting emails.

The BLE say that if they anyone receives correspondence claiming to be from Sure, the best advice is always to "remain cautious, and contact the company via a number you trust to ask if the email is legitimate.”

Pictured: Police are looking to crack down on fraudsters and cyber crime.

Some are also pretending to be employees of Amazon, in a scheme involving automated calls regarding renewal or cancellation of Prime services, or claims of a fake transaction the scammer will claim was made on the recipient’s account.

One automated phone call claims that £600 has been withdrawn from the recipient’s bank account abroad, and will ask for bank account details while attempting to ‘verify’ the phony transaction.

In another, the fraudsters claim to represent Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, offering the recipient a tax rebate. This has been seen in various forms, in phone calls, text messages and emails. BLE has advised that HMRC will not contact any Guernsey residents unless they have had recent dealings with the UK Tax Authority.

Another common scam is to claim that one’s TV license payments have been rejected, but BLE have highlighted an extortion scam as one of the most heinous. Scammers have been claiming to have sensitive recordings of the recipient, and request large amounts of money via bitcoin to prevent the recording from being forwarded on. These scammers often reveal old password for email accounts to make the threat seem more genuine, and scare the recipient into compliance.

Anyone who believes they have been targeted by, or fallen victim to, a scam, is advised to immediately contact their bank, and report the incident to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or actionfraud.co.uk. Victims can also contact Guernsey Police on 725111, Guernsey Trading Standards on 233583, or email scams@gov.gg.