Action Fraud working alongside the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, has stated that it has seen an increase in reports of this nature over the past six months. Former victims of wine fraud, who were tricked by scammers between four and six years ago, are now being targeted again by individuals claiming that they can resell their wines in return for an insurance or shipping fee. Between 1 June 2018 and 31 December 2018, there were 22 reports made to Action Fraud, with victims losing a total of £97,914. Victims were typically aged between 46 and 86 years old, and sent … Read more
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Clothes shops have been selling real fur, but advertising it as fake. After an investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority discovered this practice was widespread, they have ordered retailers to stop immediately. The agency has given retailers a deadline of 11 February to change their ways or face punishment.
Why would a retailer advertise fur as fake?
Often a retailer has been mis-led somewhere in their supply chain, but the Advertising Standards Authority, say this is not an excuse. They say the companies need to take charge of this and make sure they are not mis-leading their consumers.
Miles Lockwood, … Read more
Police in Derbyshire are warning residents that scammers are operating in the area again, this time posing as HMRC officials. The police have taken the step to warn residents after numerous reports were made and one victim reported having lost nearly £2,000.
The fraudsters have been telling victims they could be arrested or prosecuted at court, because of unpaid taxes they didn’t know they owed. They then go on to tell their victims that they can avoid being prosecuted if they pay the balance via a bank transfer or by handing over gift cards.
Some of the victims have reported … Read more
Thousands of people have lost their entire life savings through pension mis-selling, now the government has taken action and changed the law to stop this from happening.
Fraudsters have been using the term ‘Free Pension Review’ and over the past four years it is estimated that £46.7 million has been lost in pension cold-calling scams. And the stories of those who have been targeted are truly heart-breaking, with thousands of pensioners after having saved their entire lives, now facing financial hardship in their retirements. This lead to campaigners calling for an immediate pensions cold-calling ban, to help protect … Read more
Netflix are warning customers to be vigilant after millions of users are targeted by scammers. The problem has become so bad the US government has issued an official warning about the highly convincing emails asking them to update their payment details, and a version of this scam is seeing users in the UK being also targeted.
Subscribers to the video streaming service have been warned that although the emails appear convincing, not to click on any of the internal links asking them to update their payment information. If users do click on the links, they are likely to have valuable … Read more
Action Fraud are warning that a new round of Fake TV licensing emails are being circulated and, in December alone, 200 crime reports were made to Action Fraud.
Back in October, Action Fraud released a warning about TV Licensing phishing emails, after a large number of reports were received. New TV Licensing phishing emails are part of larger fraud, in which criminals are calling victims and claiming to be bank employees, convincing them to hand over their money.
According to Action Fraud, Fraudsters are sending out fake TV Licence emails regarding refunds and payment issues to people across the … Read more
The ‘WhatsApp Gold’ scam, which has being doing the rounds since 2016, has surfaced again in the form of a new message.
Action Fraud is warning consumers of another WhatsApp scam being circulated by fraudsters again. In the message, it is claimed that there is a video which will be launched called ‘Martinelli’. The video itself is a hoax and does not seem to exist. The message also warns of links being sent out to sign up for ‘WhatsApp Gold’.
Previous versions of ‘WhatsApp Gold’ messages have included promises of free flights and ‘exclusive’ access to enhanced features such as … Read more
A local community in Dudley is banding together and encouraging businesses and organisations to sign up to an anti-scam initiative. In the borough of Dudley an estimated £3.1 Million is lost each year to scammers, who specifically target elderly and vulnerable people. Their details are circulated amongst fraudsters on what is known as a ‘Sucker List’, meaning some of these people are repeatedly targeted.
In an effort to tackle the problem, 1 year ago, Dudley’s Council Trading Standards department, launched a Scams Unit. They are now asking businesses, organisations, residents and voluntary services help to stop the scammers and protect … Read more
A former financial advisor has been jailed for his involvement in a multi-million pound investment fraud. Neil Bartlett has been sentenced to 8 years imprisonment for scamming £4.5 million from victims, which he used to fund a lavish lifestyle of travel and gambling.
Police in Merseyside began to investigate Bartlett after receiving a number of complaints from Action Fraud, about his business practices. The scheme involved tricking victims into believing they were investing their pensions and life savings into investment accounts with interest. What he was actually doing was filtering the money through his company to pay himself this … Read more
A couple who made a fake sickness claim to Jet2holidays have been convicted of fraud and ordered to pay back almost £30,000. Martin and Linsey Brown, from Lancashire, submitted a false claim against Jet2holidays for gastric illness, after staying at a resort in Marmaris, Turkey. The couple claimed they suffered with stomach cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting and nausea, arising from food poisoning. They claimed the whole family, including their children, were bed-bound, because of food served on their all-inclusive holiday. However, after being tipped off by another guest, hotel owners used CCTV to compile evidence, including the couple dancing at the … Read more