Help protect yourself against Fraud

Protect Yourself Against Fraud

Imagine earning your monthly wage and gearing up to pay off some bills, maybe treating yourself to the latest gadget or even taking a well-deserved holiday and going into the bank or online to make the payment, only to learn that you have been stripped of your earnings. For many people, they do not have to imagine, as this is a reality all too familiar. Fortunately, in this day and age, we have the ability to see and control every penny of our earnings and are able to track where it is going without too much worry about the security of it all. However, with online shopping becoming one of the most popular ways for us to do our spending – especially on those larger transactions around holidays, such as Christmas and Birthday’s – we should not be so lax about those everyday transactions that we are making. There are many fantastic online payment services that guarantee great security, such as PayPal, but it is worth staying vigilant on the little signs that may signal dodgy doings from other sources that are trying to strip you of your hard-earned cash.

Emails

Many banks and building societies are very vocal about the steps they take to insure their customers do not have the opportunity to be taken advantage of; one of these steps is verification over emails. Banks such as Lloyds, HSBC and Nationwide will never ask you to verify important or confidential information over email, so if you ever receive an email that looks like it may be from your bank then, we suggest you don’t open it in the first place, however, if you do open it then do not respond. We advise you go to their website and call the official helpline immediately and tell them about the email, the likelihood is that they will tell you that it is a scam and help you deal with the email straight away.

Phone

There are many savvy ways for fraudsters to contact you in ways that make you feel safe. Many people have cottoned on to the bogus emails and online scams, however, nothing compares to speaking to a fellow human being on the phone but it is your responsibility to decipher whether they’re genuine or not. There are many clever ways for callers to disguise their real identity by either blocking the number or even making it appear with the bank name that you are associated with. Again, banks will never ask for sensitive information over emails OR by phone. If it is important, they tend to ask you to come into the bank in order to deal with the issue. Sometimes the caller may not even respond to your questions, as it will be a prerecorded pitch or a robot. Prerecorded pitches are illegal, so be wary if you encounter this and never offer your sensitive information to anyone over the phone, unless you are positive that it is the genuine number of the bank or online payment service that you are using to protect your money and if you are unsure then hang up and call back using the genuine number on their official website.

Scammers

In order to get their hands on your money, scammers will often pose as someone you trust, such as a relative or friend of a relative or someone in authority. Never give them the benefit of the doubt online or on the phone when it comes to your personal details. Make sure to try and get as much information as possible about the caller. If you can, try and get the number they are calling you from or where they are calling you from (if it is not blocked) and never hand out any of your personal information, whether its bank details, home address or full name and email. That way, you can find out a little more about the person calling and potentially notify the police with an in-depth account of the situation if anything untoward does happen.

You’ve won…

Many fraudulent emails pose as a prize giveaway or debt relief and at first it may seem harmless by asking for a mobile number or an address, but this way the fraud in question is building up layers and layers of your details and rather than jumping in straight away and asking for bank numbers, they are building your trust with seemingly unimportant information. It is also a way for the fraud to get you to click on links that have viruses attached to them which can sit in your computer and snatch sensitive information, such as passwords to online shopping accounts, bank accounts etc.

Insure Your Money

When online shopping, consider the payment method that you choose. Using a service such as PayPal often has a built-in security that allows your information to be completely protected so anyone hacking into your account won’t be able to see any ‘saved’ card details or any previous transactions as they are all protected by several layers of passwords and firewalls. Many credit cards also offer insurance on fraudulent activity. For example, when making a larger payment, such as a holiday or concert tickets, it can be more favourable to pay with your credit card as your bank will tend to insure the transaction, whereas large payments on debit cards that are lost can’t often be traced or returned back to you.

Always Read the Small Print

Online scams aren’t always trying to steal your personal information or give your computer viruses in order to hack into accounts, there are some online ‘scams’ that simply take your money in broad daylight and disguise it as the ‘best offer ever!’ in regards to the service that it is providing. This is a type of scam that isn’t necessarily taking your personal information in order to be fraudulent, however, it aims to reel you in with a delicious looking offer that you simply cannot refuse. Whether it is a free trial on your favourite music or TV programs or ‘money off your first purchase’ type of offer, its aim is to get you hooked into a contract or agreement on a monthly payment scheme for a certain amount of time or taking money off you until you call or write to them to cancel the subscription.

At Cash4Coins, we aim to make sure your money is as safe and secure as it can possibly be! So if you have any questions or queries on our services and how we can help you then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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