As we head towards the end of the year and with Christmas just around the corner we’ve taken another look at the latest scams doing the rounds and advised you on some of the ones to keep an eye out for.
Scammers posing as staff from the bank is always a common scam but in the run up to Christmas we are expecting the number of these calls to rise. They often involve the scammer claiming you need to move money between accounts to avoid the risk of fraud. It’s important to remember that your bank will never call you up and ask you to move money between accounts.
Once again we’ve seen reports of the HMRC scam on the rise in different parts of the country. In most cases the scammers, claiming to be from HMRC, tell the victim that they owe a fine, using threatening language and tactics to encourage them to pay. HMRC has warned individuals not to give out any personal or sensitive information to these types of calls.
Whilst we have picked out a couple of specific scams to watch out for, it’s important to remember that in the run up to Christmas every year scammers come up with new ways to trick people out of their money every year. Be on the lookout for all types of phone scams as we get closer to Christmas, including unsolicited calls from people claiming to be from the bank, HMRC, a utilities company, a law enforcement organisation and even a charity. Scammers know that people are spending more money than usual over the coming months and that people are often in a hurry and can’t keep track of their outgoings.
As ever we would advise anyone to sign up to the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and to always be cautious when taking an unsolicited call.
To view our range of call blockers and help to stay protected this Christmas click here