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An unknown number of people have received scam emails about benefit payments, from fraudsters pretending to be the States of Guernsey.
Gary Blanchford alerted others to the scam this morning, by sharing a screenshot of the email he received to the 'Guernsey People Have Your Say' forum.
Pictured: Gary Blanchford alerted others to the scam this morning.
Mr Blanchford said the email first appeared to be from the States of Guernsey, with an update on benefits updates. On closer inspection Mr Blanchford noticed that the email address was clearly not an official one.
He said there was no text in the body of the email but it had an attachment which he nearly opened but he didn't because the email address "didn't ring true".
Mr Blanchford wanted to share his experiences with others to encourage them to be aware. "I believe it is a simple spam but easy to react wrongly because it says it is from 'States of Guernsey' and involves your benefits," he wrote.
Guernsey Police warned that phishing emails as this is are "common" and urged everyone to "carefully check" who has sent them any emails before they open them.
“Unfortunately, phishing emails which attempt to deceive the recipient into thinking they are from a reputable source are common. Islanders should carefully check the email address of an email purporting to come from an official organisation to make sure it is legitimate," a spokesperson for the force said.
"Emails from fraudsters will also often not be as professional, will contain typos, or be addressed to a non-specific person. You should never click on a link or open an attachment in an email unless you are confident it is from a legitimate source, and we would always encourage people to take a second to consider a potential scam before acting.
“If you think you have fallen victim to a scam you should immediately contact your bank for support.”
Further advice on scams and other digital crimes is available HERE.
The States of Guernsey has also confirmed that the email received by a number of people today regarding benefits "was from fraudsters attempting to deceive islanders".
Any message sent by an official States of Guernsey employee would be "professionally addressed and come from a gov.gg email address" it says.
Like Guernsey Police, the government advice is to carefully check the email address to ensure it is legitimate before opening the message and any attachments.
The States advice also urges anyone who thinks they've fallen victim to a scam to immediately contact your own bank for support.
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