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As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, officials are warning the public to be extra vigilant when booking holidays, tickets and insurance as scammers set their sights on targeting new victims.

We are constantly being warned about the latest scams and being careful online, but the pandemic has seen the biggest increase in heartless scammers looking to target people, even in the toughest of times. Since the first lockdown began over a year ago reports of scams have skyrocketed and now just as lockdown restrictions begin to ease, experts are warning we need to be even more vigilant when looking to … Read more

Following the government’s announcement that Lockdown restrictions will be eased, Action Fraud is warning that scams will be more prevalent than ever and to remain vigilant when looking to book your next break away.

Action Fraud and ABTA, The Travel Association, are warning members of the public to be vigilant when thinking about booking our post COVID-19 vacations this year. For those of us that may be lucky enough to be able to book a holiday this year, officials are warning not to be too eager and remain vigilant as the holiday scams are still out there and as ever, … Read more

Scammers are getting increasingly sophisticated in their attempts to get their hands on your personal information. As fast as a scam gets stopped in it’s tracks a new one emerges. And just as we are seeing a record number of people working from home, so too are the scammers who are taking full advantage of the current pandemic and are ruthless even in these turbulent times.

These cyber criminals are thoroughly taking advantage of coronavirus worries and coming up with more ways to con money from innocent people.

Barclays Bank recently published new figures which showed that during the first … Read more

Action Fraud are warning people to be on the lookout after scammers target utility customers with fake emails.

Action Fraud has received over 100 reports about fake emails purporting to be from utility companies, including British Gas and Anglian Water. The content of the emails vary from threats of account suspension to refunds due to overpayment. The links in the emails lead to malicious websites that are designed to steal personal and financial information.

What is Phishing?

Phishing scams are attempts by scammers to trick you into giving out personal information such as your bank account numbers, passwords and … Read more

The ICO tells London Estate Agency: Companies must accept that they have a legal obligation to both protect and keep secure the personal data they are entrusted with. Where this does not happen, we will investigate and take action.

A London based estate agency has been fined £80,000 by the Information Commissioners Office for failing to keep the data of their tenants safe.

For two years, London based estate agency, Life at Parliament View Ltd, failed to prevent a security breach, which left the personal data of 18,620 customers exposed for almost two years. The breach happened when the company … Read more

Two men sentenced for money laundering in a betting scam which netted them £3.5 million, have been ordered to pay back some of their ill-gotten gains to victims.

The two men were involved in a complex case of money laundering which police believe they had been running for about 5 years. They were alerted to the two men by Action Fraud, who received complaints from members of the public.

Both men pled guilty in February this year, to money laundering and David Head, who is thought to be the ringleader, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and Lee Taylor was … Read more

The Information Commissioner’s Office says it is issuing Marriott International a £99 million fine, for a huge date breach in 2014.

The data breach led the personal and financial details of some 339 million guests being stolen by cyber-criminals. The breach happened in 2014, but Marriott only discovered it in 2018. Marriott said 339 million guests had their information exposed, this included their names, phone numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, passport numbers and arrival and departure information. Some guests had their credit card numbers and card expiration dates exposed. CEO Arne Sorenson said in a statement: “We fell short … Read more

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has informed British Airways they are facing a record fine of £183.39 million, this is the biggest fine ever issued by the ICO.

Between June and September 2018, the airline suffered a massive cyber-attack leading to the personal and financial information of over 500,000 customers being stolen. The sensitive information, which included people’s passport numbers, names and addresses and credit card details, was stolen from the airline’s website and mobile app.

The ICO launched an extensive investigation and found that a variety of information was compromised, and the airline was to blame as they had … Read more

The reporting service is asking members of the public to be vigilant as individuals are pretending to be police officers and traffic wardens and targeting members of the public.

 Action Fraud the reporting service, has received an increase number of reports of fraudsters claiming to be police officers or traffic wardens. The service says that most of the people being targeted are elderly and vulnerable.

Action Fraud say they have received 33 reports since January 2019 of victims being targeted by fraudsters pretending to be police officers and traffic wardens.

Victims are being approached while in the car park … Read more

A woman from Northern Ireland was targeted by a fraudster through Facebook, who conned her into a three year relationship.

 The victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, was lured into the relationship which started three years ago, but just three months in he started to ask for money from her.

It started with the romance fraudster asking her for money so he could send his children to England for a better education, but developed into him asking for money to invest in Ghana and Dubai. In total, she sent the man more than £300,000 which was deposited into different accounts … Read more