CoronavirusJun 10 2020

Guard against scams

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This week alone there are national events designated ‘sewing machine day’ and ‘cupcake day’ (they are both on Saturday, if you are interested).

My general advice is to ignore the lot of them and concentrate on more important issues.

But there is one key exception, and it is happening right now. June has been designated ‘scams awareness month’.

 There is always a new opportunity for fraudsters to exploit. This month it is the coronavirus test and trace service

Of all the financial subjects I write about, the subject of scams is one I have to return to all the time.

No matter how many heart-breaking stories journalists publish of people who have fallen prey to unscrupulous crooks or how many times we warn readers to be aware of the danger and vigilant to the risks, people still become victims.

Part of the problem is there is always a new opportunity for fraudsters to exploit. This month it is the coronavirus test and trace service.

The NHS service calls people who may have come into contact with someone with Covid-19 symptoms.

The caller asks people to self-isolate and gives them advice on what symptoms to look out for.

The service gets people’s details from someone who has contracted Covid-19 and so the call may well come out of the blue.

However, unexpected phone calls are almost always from scammers.

With this in mind, the deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries was asked how people could be sure that the caller was genuinely from the service.

Her reply was astounding. She said: “I think it will be very evident when somebody rings you, these are professionally-trained individuals.”

She may be a medical boffin, but she clearly has no idea how fraudsters operate.

They are generally smooth-talking tricksters and it is the fact they sound genuine and professional that fools people.

The real giveaway that a cold-caller is a crook is normally when they ask for personal information.

During the coronavirus crisis, the scam artists have been busier than ever.

The National Cyber Security Centre said consumers have sent it 600,000 scam emails since the start of the pandemic, all trying to use confusion and worry around the outbreak to their advantage.

It is pleasing that so many people have been savvy enough to spot the rotters, but criminals would not continue coming up with nefarious notions unless they had some successes.

“At a time when neighbourhoods and communities are coming together to support each other, it is despicable that heartless criminals are exploiting members of the public – including some of our most vulnerable citizens – to line their own pockets,” said Toby Harris, chairman of National Trading Standards.

“I urge everyone to be on their guard for possible Covid-19 scams and to look out for vulnerable family members, friends and neighbours who may become a target for fraudsters,” he added.

I also urge everyone to be on their guard. And if you think you are too savvy to be tricked, think again. Even the most clued-up professional can fall prey to a sickening scam.

I presented a BBC Radio 4 programme a couple of years ago where I interviewed a number of different people who had become scam victims.

One of the most memorable was a solicitor. She had been caught out by a phone call late on Friday night when she was shutting the office that purported to be from NatWest.

The caller claimed that the law practice’s bank account had been attacked by fraudsters and she needed to take urgent action to protect her client’s cash.

The thought of that responsibility panicked her into following the advice on the call – as well as some sophisticated trickery that showed the account had been blocked when she tried to access it online.

She stupidly transferred the cash held on behalf of clients – some £800,000 – into a ‘safe’ account, from where it was quickly spirited away by the conniving crooks.

The net result was she was struck off, lost her livelihood and her life was ruined.

That should be a salutary lesson for all of you. None of us are above being caught out by clever crooks.

And that is especially notable now that they are targeting financial advisers.

They have been sending genuine-looking emails that purport to be due diligence requests from the Financial Conduct Authority.

As Financial Adviser reported recently, the fake email read: “We require you to review and answer the relevant questions in the attached questionnaire.”

Information is power to crooks and the data gathered from that email could well be used to trick clients out of cash, or attack advisers.

Hopefully all financial advisers were diligent enough to spot the scam, but it is a stark warning.

Be informed about all scams and be alive to their dangers. Protect yourselves and protect your clients.

Simon Read is a freelance journalist