Are you Sure You Know Who You Are Talking To??
Scams are regrettably becoming more and more common, and it is important to be on your guard and take care. We unfortunately see more of this than many people, whether that is because we are advising people who have been caught out, or because fraudsters often try and target solicitors.
We have very sophisticated security systems and our staff are trained to be aware and vigilant, but that is not the case for most people.
A common scam at the moment is to receive a telephone call from somebody purporting to be from your bank, HMRC, or even the police. They will then try to get you to tell them information about your account, or even to move money – to keep it safe – to another account that they give you details of.
There are a few simple tips to keep in mind if you are contacted:-
- Your bank, HMRC, or other organisation will never call you and ask you to move money, and will never ask you to reveal passwords or account details. If you are asked for these things it is most likely a scam
- If you get an unexpected text message, don’t follow any instructions, click a link, or ring a number given – you could be calling a very expensive call line – until you have checked it is genuine. Are you actually expecting a parcel from that company?? taking a short while to verify the text could save you a lot of trouble.
- If you get an unexpected call from someone who says they are your bank, tell the caller that you are going to double check what they are telling you by calling back. Then wait 5 minutes – they can sometimes keep the line open – and ring a number you know is genuine, for example your local branch number. Genuine callers will not mind you double checking.
Remember if it feels wrong, it most probably is…
