Posts

Action Fraud have issued a warning over Fake currency and the organised crime syndicates, making big money from it.

In 2018 alone, more than £10 million worth of counterfeit bank notes were taken out of circulation. This only represents a small portion of the 3.7 billion genuine bank notes in circulation, but police say it is essential they are reported.

Action Fraud reports that criminals are using social media platforms such as Instagram to sell counterfeit money, and sellers are offering notes at a lower price, sometimes as little as a tenth of their face value. Police in West Yorkshire … Read more

A federal judge in Florida has ruled in favour of a law firm that was being sued by timeshare resort Club Exploria LLC. Club Exploria bought the suit, claiming the law firm’s advertising was Deceptive and that their customers could get out of contracts and not pay their fees if they did not want to or could no longer afford it. The firm was representing over 20 Club Exploria members in assisting them in legal extradition from their timeshares they no longer wanted or used.

The suit has been going on for over two years and was a clear attempt … 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 uncovered, 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

A mother and daughter have shared their experiences of falling victim to ticket scammers in the hope that others think twice before buying tickets from illegitimate platforms. 

Sophie, 17, and Juliette, 49, gave their story as part of a new awareness campaign launched with Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) that urges people to avoid fraud by taking more care when buying tickets for live events. Fraudsters will pose as a website or agent for a music concert or festival, a sporting contest, or a live comedian or performer, meaning victims will purchase tickets that either don’t arrive or … Read more

Unfortunately, timeshare owners not only suffer because they are mainly mis-sold in the first place but often desperate owners wanting to offload them are targeted again by fraudsters looking to take advantage of their situation. Timeshare scams are extremely common and cause a lot of distress to victims who can lose thousands at the hands of unscrupulous companies. It then leaves owners out of pocket and wondering where to turn to next and who to trust.

Over in the Unites States timeshare scams are extremely common and officials do not seem to be able to stop the stream of scammers … 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

Scammers stole thousands from vulnerable people.

Two men who scammed more than £35,000 from a vulnerable elderly man have been sentenced. The two men first approached their elderly victim at his home in September 2017. They claimed that, while working on his neighbours property, they noticed a leak in his gutter, which they could repair for £5.

Sensing the man was vulnerable, they went on to tell him a series of lies, claiming he could be sued by his neighbour if he did not allow them to Immediately repair his roof. The man agreed to have this work carried … Read more

Action Fraud have issued a warning for people to lookout for Phishing messages on National Fish and Chip Day.

Between April 2018 and March 2019, Action Fraud received over a quarter of a million reports of Phishing. Over two thirds of these reports were about emails claiming to be from a well-known brand. There were almost 70,000 that related to phishing phone calls, otherwise known as vishing, and close to 18,000 relating to phishing text messages, known as smishing.

Commander Karen Baxter, National Police Coordinator for Economic Crime at the City of London Police, said:“Phishing messages are … Read more

Wendy Williams, was just one of over a thousand people targeted by the ‘Wolves of Wind Street’, a group of fraudsters who targeted elderly victims with a free boiler scam. Renewable Energy Centre Ltd, offered victims a free boiler under what they said was a government scheme, all people had to do was pay a one-off upfront fee of either £299 or £399.

The company managed to con 1,200 people into paying this fee, but only three households ever received their new boilers. The three elderly victims who did receive their new boiler, were actually unknowingly signed up for … Read more

If you like the millions of other timeshare owners across the world, find themselves in the position where you feel stuck by your timeshare and desperately want to find a way out, then there are some important things to consider before you start your journey to economically unburdening yourself from a timeshare contract.

Has your timeshare become unaffordable, or perhaps you have been hit, like the millions of others, with financial strain due to the Covid-19 pandemic? For the majority of people life is changing all the time and we don’t always find ourselves in the exact same position we … Read more