We have all been affected by the rapid worldwide spread of the Covid-19 virus across the globe. A major event like Coronavirus can initiate new types of activity for financial scammers. While most of the population view a pandemic with a sense of panic, financial scammers see an opportunity to line their pockets with money scammed from innocent people.
Financial scammers prey on people’s financial insecurities. There is a lot uncertainty about many aspects of life at the moment, with money issues top of the list of worries for most people. With increasing amounts of people experiencing financial stress due to Covid-19, scams have become much more prevalent.
What is a scam?
Scams are fraudulent schemes that dupe people into parting with their personal details and/or cash. They’ve been around for as long as we can remember, but they’re no longer confined to shady door-to-door salesmen or dodgy second-hand car dealers. Today scammers target people through emails, online banking systems, text or WhatsApp messages and online transactions.
How much have scammers stolen?
Scammers stole £616m from UK bank customers during the first six months of 2019. Of this total, £207.5m was lost to scams in which people were duped into authorising a payment to an account controlled by a criminal. This was up 40% on the £148.2m figure for the same period in 2018, and this figure is predicted to rise again this year particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Coronavirus scams reported so far include:
- Emails or texts appearing to be from the Government offering money to help you through this difficult time and messages from HMRC (the Government department responsible for collecting taxes) offering you tax rebates (a refund)
- People being encouraged to invest money in the stock market as share prices have fallen a lot in recent weeks. The scammers will tell you this is low risk, high reward – this is a tell-tale sign of a scam. Be very careful of anyone who contacts you out of the blue with a too-good-to be true business proposition
- Emails or texts claiming to be from research companies connected to organisations like the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) offering coronavirus tests, or details of those who have been infected
- Scammers are taking advantage of the fact it is harder to get in contact with providers because shops are closed, and helplines are very busy. Be suspicious if you get a text message, email or phone call saying there is an issue with your payment or bill
- Scammers have been contacting people pretending to be from banks offering financial help like no late fees on credit cards and payment holidays on loans as a way of getting you to reveal your card and bank account details
Keep your guard up – it’s important you always remain extra vigilant; make sure any call, texts or emails you’re getting are from legitimate sources and never give out any personal information. The number of scams is likely to increase, and investigators are reporting hundreds of thousands of pounds being lost to scammers since the start of the outbreak.
How to stay safe from Corona Virus related scams
- Do not hand over any financial details in return for financial support from the Government or any Government related agencies
- Do not get tempted into ordering Coronavirus-related products online
- Avoid any unexpected contact – any unexpected emails, texts, WhatsApp messages, or phone calls should be ignored
- Never give out any personal information – this can be used to steal your identity and access accounts
- Make sure all your accounts have a strong password – don’t use the same password for multiple accounts and change them regularly
- If you’re unsure about a financial company, check the FCA (The Financial Conduct Authority) Register of regulated companies – if they’re not on it, don’t have anything to do with them
- Make sure any websites you are using are secure – check to see if the web address starts with HTTPS, not just HTTP
Remember – If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
This pandemic is hard enough to deal with, don’t let the scammers and fraudsters take away your money.