North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson is calling on people to be vigilant for cyber crime over the festive period.
Many scams are perpetrated by phone, email or text messages where fraudsters pretend to represent a trusted organisation such as a high street bank. The fraudulent messages often ask the recipient to divulge account information or to transfer money in to another account.
Justin call follows an online safety event he hosted recently at his community office alongside Barclays.
The Home Office, along with private sector, is running the ‘Take Five’ campaign, asking people to think “My money? My info? I don’t think so!” The aim of the campaign is to encourage people to carefully consider and confidently challenge requests for sensitive information.
In order to keep you safe it is useful to consider:
- Requests to move money: A genuine bank or organisation will never contact you out of the blue to ask for your PIN, full password or to move money to another account. Only give out your personal or financial details to use a service that you have given your consent to, that you trust and that you are expecting to be contacted by.
- Clicking on links/files: Don’t be tricked into giving a fraudster access to your personal or financial details. Never automatically click on a link in an unexpected email or text.
- Personal information: Always question uninvited approaches in case it’s a scam. Instead, contact the company directly using a known email or phone number.
- Phone calls: Just because someone knows your basic details (such as your name and address or even your mother’s maiden name), it doesn’t mean they are genuine. Be mindful of who you trust – criminals may try and trick you into their confidence by telling you that you’ve been a victim of fraud. Criminals often use this to draw you into the conversation, to scare you into acting and revealing security details. Remember, criminals can also make any telephone number appear on your phone handset so even if you recognise it or it seems authentic, do not use it as verification they are genuine.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: “Christmas is one of the busiest time for online shopping, and unfortunately this also makes it a busy time for fraudsters. It is important to remain vigilant and carefully consider all unsolicited communication – especially if it is requesting sensitive information. Never be afraid to question requests for information, and contact a trusted number or e-mail to ensure the communication is genuine.”
