Millions of social media users may be vulnerable to identity theft, according to a new Which? investigation. Our researchers successfully applied for a credit card in the name of a volunteer, using details from their Facebook profile cross-checked with other publicly available information, such as phone directories. Which? believes many other social media users unknowingly […]
Category: Consumer News
Are you the next victim?
Every two minutes of every day, someone in the UK is ripped off by a fraudster or loses money to an online crime. Households are falling prey to investment conmen, cold callers who petrify their victims into thinking they’ve been robbed, fake websites, pension crooks and online bandits who dupe people into giving away their […]
Victim of fraud: how to reclaim your identity
Over four million people in the UK have been a victim of identity fraud, and the number of victims is rising faster than ever before: some 80,000 people had their identity stolen in the last year alone. The UK Fraud Prevention Service found that the average person loses £1,190 from the theft of their identity, […]
Air Miles/WestJet/Expedia Fake Points
Everyone uses Expedia all over the world, while WestJet and AirMiles are companies mostly used in North America. Air Miles is a great reward system existing in Canada, Spain, Great Britain, Netherlands, and the Middle East, by which collectors get points for specific purchases they make. Link to article
The people most at risk from identity theft
Could you be a target for identity fraudsters? Some 4 million people in the UK have been a victim of this crime, and 80,000 fell victim in the last year alone, so there’s a growing chance that fraudsters could have you in their sights. However, there are seven groups of people who are far more […]
Scam City: a taxi ride from hell
An undercover reporter for Scam City was filmed taking a taxi ride in Mumbai with an uninvited passenger who claimed to be his travel agent. Conor Woodman is an investigative journalist who visited ten of the world’s cities to expose tourist traps for a new programme Scam City. For this latest series he discovered a […]
The most horrible holiday scams
The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau recently identified 1,000 different holiday scams aimed at British holidaymakers, and says that criminals separated tourists from £1.5 million in the last year alone. Link to article
Protecting your online information is easy
CIFAS – the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service (in collaboration with Dionach, the leading independent global Information Security company) today releases Protecting your online information: a quick and easy guide on how best to protect yourself and your data when online. Link to article
Top 10 travel scams to look out for
Welcome to the brave new world of vacation ripoffs! The old “catch my baby while I pick your pocket” trick seems downright tame compared with this scary new breed of travel cons. Link to article
The Little Book of Big Scams
Every year the British public loses billions of pounds to scammers who bombard us with online, mail, door to door and telephone scams. Link to report
Advice for good password management
Consumers can take an important step toward protecting themselves by choosing a secure password. Here are some suggestions to keep in mind when creating or updating accounts: •Don’t use any word found in the dictionary or any personal information like your name, birth date, pet’s name, or the street you live on. And never use […]
Top 10 scams to watch out for
Travel is one of life’s great pleasures, so it is little wonder travellers are more interested in researching which sites to see and which restaurants to visit than finding out what scams they have to watch out for. Link to article
Forget police and contact a call centre
From the end of this month it will be almost impossible to report fraud to the police. Victims, and anyone who suspects they are being set up by fraudsters, will be told to contact a call centre or go online and submit a form to a Home Office agency called Action Fraud. Link to article
Airline Free Tickets and Vouchers
In a down economy with rising gas prices, many can’t afford to take vacations that involve air travel. For that reason, many residents of the United States were pleasantly surprised when they received a letter from US Airlines offering two free flights worth almost $1300. Link to article
Airline Ticket Scam
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. There are NO free rides in life. You’ll want to remember that if you get a letter in the mail claiming you’ve “qualified for an award of 2 roundtrip airline tickets”. Link to article
Thousands duped in UAE airline scam
Thousands of people have been duped by several social media scams offering free flights with Emirates and Etihad Airways. Link to article
Top 10 travel scams to watch out for
Travel is one of life’s great pleasures, so it is little wonder travelers are more interested in researching which sites to see and which restaurants to visit than finding out what scams they have to watch out for. Link to article
Airlines warn customers to beware of email scams
We have a theory that the day after someone first thought up using email to scam consumers, the first airline phishing email went out. Phishing, of course, is giving the appearance that an email, with its wonderful offers, came from a legitimate company offering amazing travel deals or free tickets or whatever. In fact, the […]
Beware Of Airline Scams
In anticipation of the holiday season and the immense amount of travel that takes place, airlines have been warning their customers to keep an eye out for fraudulent emails that appear to be from them. Cybercriminals are using this heavy travel season as yet another opportunity to infect the public with dangerous viruses. Link to […]
Why smart people fall for scams
Many victims, particularly those of investment fraud, are educated, wealthy, and financially literate. Find out why even smart people fall for dumb traps and how you can avoid being an easy target. Link to article