Scams are a part of everyday life and so it’s important to keep yourself up to date with the latest trends – here’s some recent advice from the Co-operative Bank:
Remain vigilant to energy crisis scams
Scammers are taking advantage of the rising cost of energy bills by impersonating energy providers, local councils, the government or OFGEM with offers of support or rebates.
Through bogus cold calls, fake texts, emails and online adverts their aim is to get you to provide your personal and financial information, which they can use to scam you in the future.
The latest energy scam involves a bogus text posing as the government, asking you to click on a link to apply for the £400 energy grant.
If you receive a text like this or similar, don’t click on the link. Your grant will be applied to your account automatically – you don’t need to take any action.
Cost of Living – Don’t let scammers ruin your retirement
With the cost of living impact deepening, you may consider withdrawing your pension earlier than planned. Pension scammers are tricking victims with false promises of a better lifestyle in retirement or more money to support a better life in hard times.
They’ll use fake adverts offering free pension reviews, guaranteeing better returns on your pension savings. Usually with offers that are too good to be true!
The Financial Conduct Authority provides a warning list so that you can check if an investment or pension opportunity you’ve been offered is genuine to avoid scams.
Courier scams
Criminals are calling victims posing as the Police and telling them that their card is being used fraudulently or that their money isn’t safe. If you receive a call and are told to move your money for safety reasons or to take cash out and hand it over to ‘assist with an investigation’ – It’s a scam!
The Bank or the Police will NEVER ask you do this and would never arrange to come to your home to collect your PIN, bank cards or cash.
