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Scams: telephone, email, texts 2022

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On spotting fake emails. If you get an email that you don't think is legit from a company take a look at the email address that's sending it. Depending on where you get your email or how you see them on your computer, you may have to move the cursor over the senders name or something like that. If the email address doesn't end with the internet address of the company that's supposed to be sending it, it's definitely a fake. More obviously, if you haven't given that company that email address, it's almost as bad.
 
the amount of items that have not arrived from a online site e**y that i was told have been sent and must be lost by the po is OTT now. they get your dosh straight away,but reclaiming it is another thing, grrrrr
 
Sorry you've had trouble with that site, Pete. It's a good idea to check the customer satisfaction rating of whoever you're buying from. I do that and thankfully haven't had any trouble for years. A good rating should be at least close to 100%.
 
Yes, they've started already. I had a lengthy conversation with a 'supervisor' on the line that claims to be from Microsoft saying they know my computer was "Being used by scammers" (!) - I said they can't get in to use it and pretended not to understand what he was saying about technology. That was 20 minutes of his life he won't get back! If its anything to do with loft insulation, boiler renewal, double glazing, replacement soffits (what the hell are soffits anyway?) I tell them to contact my landlord. (You can do that even if you own your house - they aren't interested if they can't deal with you directly!) Another trick to try is let the phone ring 5 times before answering it - scammers dial multiple numbers then disconnect once one answers. Not failsafe, but often saves your bother. On mobiles, check the number calling - if it doesnt begin with "0" or "+44" its from outside of the UK. You can check where from on this page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_telephone_prefixes_by_country
Beat you my record is 37 minutes, it was a cold wet windy day, I had nothing better to do, I just love these calls. AC Chunky.
 
Sorry you've had trouble with that site, Pete. It's a good idea to check the customer satisfaction rating of whoever you're buying from. I do that and thankfully haven't had any trouble for years. A good rating should be at least close to 100%.
thanks.i do look now at the feedback of the sellers now.
 
In the last week I've had a run of e-mails asking me to update/resubscribe to various computer security programs. For some reason, they are getting through the usual spam filter. Although the Anti-virus programs exist, the senders (as evidenced by their addresses) are not connected to them. I do not know what the scam is - it could just be an address collector - but I know it is a scam.
 
In the last week I've had a run of e-mails asking me to update/resubscribe to various computer security programs. For some reason, they are getting through the usual spam filter. Although the Anti-virus programs exist, the senders (as evidenced by their addresses) are not connected to them. I do not know what the scam is - it could just be an address collector - but I know it is a scam.
update/resubscribe = give us your bank details. Not to the AV vendors, to the scammers. Address details would be extra icing on the cake.

Even if you only pay them the requested amount, say £50, think about one email written, 1 million deliveries at the push of a button, 1 % hit rate. PROFIT. Then do it again the next day.

Also, the odd spelling mistake is often deliberate, as is the subtly not quite correct English, (and odd typeface mikejee). Scammers don't want to waste time with people who are paying attention.

Andrew.
 
I

I used to use the deliberate mistake to see if my window posters and adverts were being read,

An upside down poster or a mis-spelled word would always bring in the person who couldn't resist telling you how stupid you are. :)
I love the grammar police, so easy to grab their attention.

Interestingly, mapmakers would introduce a deliberate error too. It was a way of detecting copyright breaches
 
I love the grammar police, so easy to grab their attention.

Interestingly, mapmakers would introduce a deliberate error too. It was a way of detecting copyright breaches
I have just remembered many years ago an old friend who was at what was then Aston commercial college saying he had published a set of statistical tables and had introduced one slight error at the last decimal point on one page, for the same reason
 
This morning's effort, a pretty convincing Tesco £1000 voucher prize, "You are in the last three in the competition to win a £1000 Tesco voucher, fill in your details below."
 
Recently got a call from a guy pretending to be the first direct bank safety service. Was telling me about suspicious activity or something
 
Also, the odd spelling mistake is often deliberate, as is the subtly not quite correct English, (and odd typeface mikejee). Scammers don't want to waste time with people who are paying attention.

Andrew.
Odd spelling mistakes can be part of a different kind of game. If you've ever been passed something on FaceBook that either has a couple of odd spelling mistakes or is just an image and asked to share it there's a trick to it. It's possible to search for odd phrases or images on google. So if someone wants to find out what idiots will circulate just about anything, they search for either the phrase or the image and they can find out who shared it and where. That way they can spam a lot more people simply by sharing whatever they want with the people who share it to the places where they want it to go.
 
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