There have already been multiple reports of individuals falling foul of the ‘TV Licence Scam’ this year. One couple in Hampshire lost nearly £10,000 at the start of this year after receiving an initial e-mail that claimed they needed to renew their TV licence. The chain of events that followed saw them lose over £9000 and included a phone call from their ‘building society’, convincing them to hand over personal and financial information that the scammers were able to use to access their money. This scam was on the rise at the end of 2018 and looks set to continue to grow this year.
A ban on nuisance calls concerning pension scams has come in to force at the beginning of this year but people are still being warned to be on their guard. Research last year showed that, on average, pension scam victims lost £91,000. Tricksters have been contacting people and offering them free pension reviews to lure them in to high risk schemes and steal their money. Despite this type of call now being illegal, this type of scam is still expected to rise in 2019, as the figures highlight just how lucrative it has been and can be for scammers.
There have also been widespread reports of Apple customers receiving calls that seem in every way to be from Apple, when in reality they are from scammers. Scammers are even able to use what look like legitimate Apple phone numbers and correctly identify themselves as they attempt to gain access to personal information and passwords.
These are just three types of scams that are currently being reported in the UK but throughout the year you can expect many more to hit the headlines. The level of sophistication in these types of scams is becoming more common and gives further weight to the argument that you should never give out information to an unsolicited caller over the phone, no matter how genuine they may appear to be.
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