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How do you recognise a scam?

Protect your personal information

Never give out bank details to people you don't know or people you meet online.

A scam is usually uninvited (unsolicited). This means it will come from a company or
person you've never heard of by:

  • post - through a letter or promotional leaflet
  • email - through a personal or promotional message ('spam emails')
  • phone ('cold calling')
  • text message

A scam will:

  • give extravagant promises - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
  • ask you to pay for something upfront, eg you have to pay a fee to claim a prize
  • put pressure on you to make a quick decision, eg an investment opportunity will end unless you
    pay straight away
  • ask for bank account details so they can steal your money

Never give out bank details to people you don't know or people you meet online.

Other signs of a scam are the person or company only:

  • gives a mobile phone number as a contact
  • uses a PO box number or mail box as an address - mail boxes look like a real address but the
    business isn't based there

PO boxes and mobile numbers are easy to turn off and hard to trace.

Use an online search engine to check a business's address - a mail box will have many
companies based at the same address.

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Scambuster A5 Campaign English 2012.pdf1.23 MB