National Crime Agency Telephone Scam
One of our brilliant supporters has been in touch with information about scam calls he recently received claiming to be the National Crime Agency (NCA). One call came from 07925 035496 and another call came from 07925 033698. In each case the call was an automated voice stating that the the recipient's NI (National Insurance) number would be suspended having been noticed in incidents of criminal activity. The call instructs the recipient to press 1 to speak to an agent.
If you receive an unsolicited call from anyone which asks you to press a key to speak to someone please ignore the instruction and hang up. There are many scams phone calls which are designed to worry, panic or entice people into pressing a key and which may result in a costly charge to your phone bill or connection to a fraudster who is well rehearsed in convincing you to part with your money.
Information about calls like this can be reported to report@phishing.gov.uk including your phone number, the caller's number, the time and date of the call and a brief description of the call.
NCA have also warned of another type of telephone scam which seems to particularly target older people. The offenders warn their victims about a banking scam and persuade them to allow remote access to their computers, or hand over personal information and bank details. Sometimes they ask their targets to move the money to a “safe” bank account. You can read more about these scams, and what to do if you're suspicious, on the NCA website.
Back in December we warned about fake courier delivery scams. Well, thanks to our wonderful partner Fenland Community Safety Partnership, we can share some details of one such scam e-mail they have recently received so that we can all be aware and tell others to help people stay safe.
In this case the e-mail looked to have come from Parcel Force Worldwide and stated that they had tried to deliver a parcel. It goes on to say 'Your action is required. If this item is unclaimed by the return date, then it will be returned to sender.
The first and second delivery attempt was free of charge. To schedule a new delivery, a shipping fee must be paid' and it provides a link to 'reschedule your parcel delivery'.
The e-mail used the Parcel Force Worldwide logo and tries to look official by using an order reference number and the genuine Parcel Force Group privacy notice at the footer of the e-mail. However, there are a few red flags that this is not a genuine Parcel Force e-mail:
- The e-mail address of the sender was not a Parcel Force address but something entirely different: kmzpp@telenet(dot)be .
- The message greeting used the recipient's e-mail address, not their name.
- The message used a vague phrase 'if this item is unclaimed by the return date, then it will be returned to sender' without giving the supposed 'return date'.
- The e-mail asks for payment of a fee. No fee is required to arrange redelivery of a parcel.
- A hyperlink was provided to take payment and personal information. Hyperlinks are a big warning that a message may be a scam.
This e-mail could just have easily used another parcel courier's branding and come from a different e-mail address or even a SMS text message so please be alert to these scams and warn others about them too.
Don't forget you can report phishing e-mails to report@phishing.gov.uk and suspicious text messages to 7726. Thank you.
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