Cyber criminals are well aware of current affairs, the day to day events which have a bearing and impact on our daily lives, and they will seek different ways to exploit topical events in an effort to make their phishing attempts more convincing – so we have to remain vigilant as they will continue their scamming efforts in 2023.
Phishing emails will appear as being genuine and the scammers will either include a nefarious link that will download a malware to your computer, or direct you to a fake website asking for bank details or other personal information.
Dealing with a scam email can be frustrating, annoying and in many respects stressful but there is help and guidance available to you, such as the following information from our trusted partners at the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre). This guidance highlights what phishing is and further breaks it down to support you on how to spot and report scam emails, texts and calls.
How to spot a scam email, text message or calls.
The NCSC also has the power to investigate and take down scam email addresses and web sites. Reporting a scam email to the NCSC is free and only takes minutes and you can do this by sending the scam email, even if you only suspect it as being a scam email, to report@phishing.gov.uk
This is also known as the Suspicious Email Reporting service or SER’s. Since this service was introduced in 2020, the UK public has reported nearly 16 million scam emails and this has resulted in 198,000 scam email and website take downs.
The NCSC is also urging the public to follow its’ Cyber Aware guidance which will support you protect your online accounts from scammers and help you protect your personal and financial information.
Ofgem is also working closely with the NCSC to help protect customers, as they too are aware scammers will try to capitalise on the energy crisis. They have created additional support with their Stop – Check – Protect guidance on how to avoid and report energy scams.
Information from Police Scotland Cybercrime Harm Prevention Team.
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