Everyone dreams of having a windfall – who wouldn’t enjoy a massive lottery win? And it is those dreams that scammers exploit by sending you official looking documents saying that you are just one or two steps away from being a millionaire.
But there is always one common theme – they want your money first! Often called a fee for “processing”, administration”, “clearance” etc this is the key to knowing you’re going to get scammed if you send any money. Be assured – you have not won the money claimed if you have to pay up front.
Think of it – someone you’ve never heard of writes to you to tell you that you’ve won a competition that you’ve never entered. And if you have genuinely won £10,000,000 and it costs £50 for processing it, why can’t they simply deduct that fee from your £10,000,000 and send you the rest?
Furthermore, if you respond once, your details will be given to scam companies all over the world and you will soon become inundated with these mailings.
There are a number of other scams that are used to get your money too, such as if you were to receive a letter, fax or email where:
An implausible series of events has occurred and your help is required in getting money out of a foreign country, which will normally involve making a series of payments.
A clairvoyant, for a small fee, will increase your wealth, happiness, love life, professional or personal success.
You’ve got your dream job, and have to make payments for taxes, visas, “anti terrorism certificates” or any reason.
You should not respond to these and you must never transfer money to someone you don’t know.
If the promise is too good to be true then it almost certainly is.
Bank account information scams
Banks and Building Societiesare often targeted by fraudsters who endeavour to get you to type in your security details in order to empty your accounts.
If you have received an e-mail from what appears to be your bank or building society please visit the Bank Safe Online website. On this website, amongst other things, you will see a number of the fake (and often very genuine looking) communications that claim to come from your bank.
Banks will never contact you by email to ask you to enter your password or any other sensitive information by clicking on a link and visiting a web site. The emails are sent out completely at random in the hope of reaching a live email address of a customer with an account at the bank being targeted.
Further information about scams
For the latest news on scams and issues affecting Cambridgeshire, visit our 'Latest news' pages. For ongoing scams taking place across the country, visit the Action Fraud website.
For more information on how to avoid scams visit the Citizens Advice website.
In addition, you can report scams online to Action Fraud or report it to Action Fraud by telephone on 0300 1232040.
To the right you will find a number of links to footage produced by the Office of Fair Trading to increase awareness of scams, each available on You tube.