Beware of scams

[FTL]

There's so many scams out out there nowadays and they're only increasing in volume, so it pays to be aware of them and take care not to fall into the trap.

Here are a few links to articles and resources to help you remain one step ahead of the scammers. Please add more as you find them.

Shopping for Christmas bargains? Beware the ‘spray and pay’ parcel delivery fraud

Criminals send thousands of texts about an undelivered bargain buy and ask for a redelivery fee in a bid to mine your data and bank details

www.theguardian.com

‘This is crippling us’: The new fraud epidemic hitting restaurants

Forty Dean Street is something of an institution in London’s Soho. Nima Safaei and his sister have run the small Italian restaurant for over 15 years, and it is one of three restaurants they own in this bustling neighbourhood.

uk.finance.yahoo.com

Fake medicine almost killed my cat - here's how to spot counterfeits

Pet owners are being urged to check all medicines carefully before using them.

www.bbc.co.uk

Black Friday: Shoppers warned most offers are not cheaper

Only one in seven Black Friday deals offered a genuine discount last year, says consumer group Which?

www.bbc.co.uk

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The following are specific to the UK:

159 phone number - Stop Scams UK

Intended for use by consumers, 159 provides an easy route back to safety when you get an unexpected phone call about a financial matter

stopscamsuk.org.uk

Action Fraud

National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre

www.actionfraud.police.uk

 

[FTL]

For UK viewers and those with a VPN, there's Scam Interceptors on BBC iPlayer, a series where they hack into scam call centres and stop the scams in realtime.

This isn't staged either, the scams are real and they're stopping them for real.

BBC One - Scam Interceptors

Working with ethical hackers, Rav Wilding is hunting down the scammers plaguing our lives.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Mendalla]

For UK viewers and those with a VPN, there's Scam Interceptors on BBC iPlayer, a series where they hack into scam call centres and stop the scams in realtime.

I have heard of that but never seen it. It's a nice idea in principle and good for a vengeful laugh but probably makes only a scratch on the surface. LE and intelligence might make a dent. But as long as there's people giving them money, scammers will keep popping up and finding new ways to scam and hide. It's a game of whack-a-mole where the moles are probably winning. And it has been that way for a long time. Some Internet scams are just rejigs of classic older scams.

So be careful out there. They are coming for your money.

 

[FTL]

Oh yes, what they have the resources to stop is a drop in the ocean. However, it does raise awareness of these scams, so it's effectiveness is much more than the few people they save.

It still beggars belief how people fall for these as they're so obviously fake right from the off. Just hang up on them and you're safe. Note that I'm excluding old people with dementia, or other vulnerable groups who can't tell the difference. They should be protected from criminal predators like this as possible.

 

[Mendalla]

I will confess to enjoying it when the "your computer is infected" scammers call given I work in IT and generally know computers better than they do. Wish I could justify the effort to create a honeypot so I could trap and torment them a bit.

 

[FTL]

Oh, I've had a few of those Microsoft support scam calls, but not for years now. I actually miss them because they deny me the opportunity to scam bait them. Now, all the scams are automated in some way with no real person on the end of the phone, so all I can do is just hang up, very boring.

There was one memorable MS support scam call at least a decade ago now. An Indian "lady" called from "Microsoft" to kindly tell me that my computer was infected and she had the fix for it for a low low price of £40 or some crap like that. She said that she could see what was happening right now on it, which I found utterly fascinating since it was switched off while I watched TV.

I went through the motions of going through her instructions to install some malware sh*t on my PC, ie I didn't actually switch it on. She said something like go to website such and such and download a certain software and then install it. Normally, people will faff around, get confused, need to repeat steps, slow download etc, it all takes time and impatience from their end in their fervent quest to steal your money. I simply said that it was done. Instantly. She started to cotton on when she couldn't actually shadow my still switched off PC. I think she needed some ID number from the shadow software, so I just made up any old number and spoonfed it to her. She started to get annoyed with me, so I petulantly said, "well it worked for the other guy so it should work for you. Don't blame me!" This wound her up even more.

She eventually started to get irate with me, at which point I revealed - surprise! - that I knew she was a scammer and started insulting her in the worst ways possible, stuff I couldn't possibly repeat here. Think of the kind of taboo things that you wouldn't ever say to an Indian lady, so of course I went there and delivered those insults full-on in the nastiest way possible, complete with a healthy dose of swearing. She quickly exploded, ranting, raving and hollering so loudly and hysterically down the phone at me that the sound was just a wall of distortion, completely unintelligible. After a few seconds of this, she hung up and I never heard from the b*tch again. Ah, so satisfying to completely ruin her day. In complete contrast, it totally made my day and I had a real happy after that. I actually enjoyed my TV program even more than before the interruption, in fact.

 

[chillibear]

I think half the problem is that legitimate services are so poorly designed it helps the scammers. Our business bank makes its "suspected fraud" calls to staff from an unlisted number that Google has flagged as a "potential scammer" (not that numbers can't easily be spoofed) and sounds so dodgy when/if you answer them. I also recall when setting up a new director we had to give them (the bank) the OTP code from an existing token, the poor lady I was speaking to was very apologetic and I really felt her pain when explaining that yes they needed the code and yes that would be the code we're never supposed to give to anyone else and they would never ask for. It was all quite legitimate, but they don't do themselves any favours. I still can't believe that in 2025 we don't seem to have two way authentication for telephone banking. It would seem even more trivial to do these days given the existence of banking "apps" (ie a secure second channel) for the bank to be able to "validate" themselves when phoning you.

 

[FTL]

I've seen Kitboga drive scammers spare with frustration, but in this new video, he's reached new heights. They're absolutely hollering down the phone at him as he deftly ratchets up their frustration and causes them to lose the will to live. Priceless!

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