An example is identity theft where a scammer uses your identity to open an account in your name and then uses it to borrow money or obtain goods fraudulently. The account provider may then send you a bill for the money. If you are subjected to such a demand then contact them to tell them. In a case reported in the Guardian Money the financial institution demanded a crime number but the police could not provide a crime number as the fraud had been committed against the financial institution not the person whose identity had been used. See the article in the Guardian Money section at:- http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/nov/30/identity-theft-action-fraud-report
The best organisation to report it to is Action Fraud, which has been set up by the government. Their website is at http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
Action Fraud is the UK's national fraud and internet crime reporting centre. They provide a central point of contact for information about fraud and financially motivated internet crime. If you've been scammed, ripped off or conned, there is something you can do about it - get in touch with them.
Action Fraud is not an emergency service - dial 999 if you are in immediate danger.
Even if you have not (yet) been scammed the website is worth visiting as it has a great deal of advice and information. It also has details of current types of scams and frauds to be aware of, together with information about hoax emails. An example is the following:-
Hoax email from PDS (Parcel Delivery Service)
Action Fraud is reminding everyone that a chain email circulating warning about a postal scam that could leave you £315 out of pocket - is a hoax [28 November]
The hoax email reads:
"Can you circulate this around especially as Xmas is fast approaching - it has been confirmed by Royal Mail. The Trading Standards Office are making people aware of the following scam:
A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911 (a Premium rate number).
DO NOT call this number, as this is a mail scam originating from Belize. If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed £315 for the phone call.
If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail Fraud on 020 7239 6655."
If you receive this email just delete it and do not to forward it to anyone.
Thank you for this - in particular about the PDS hoax. I recently received such a 'warning' email about this via someone who had received it through a mailing from a society he belonged to (see how such hoaxes are spread !). I had to email those concerned to point out it was a hoax and not to forward such warnings. I said that the hoax goes back to 2005 - you can also read all about it on the hoax-slayer site at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hoax-slayer.com/pds-phone-scam.html
Glad it is of value and glad that at least one person looks at the site. Actually not entirely true as there were 464 page views in the last 30 days; this is more than ever but still less than one view per member per month
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