Fraudsters have adopted another cunning plan to defraud people in Gedling borough out of their money – sending out genuine-looking e-mails purporting to come from TV Licensing.
Trading Standards has received reports there is a scam email circulating stating that people are entitled to a refund of their TV Licence fee.
The aim of the emails is to steal bank details. The link in the email sends people to a website that looks like the TV Licensing own website with a form to complete.
A spokesman for Trading Standards said: “Always be suspicious of unsolicited emails that are supposedly from a trusted organisation because the address can easily be faked. Never a click on any links before stopping to check that they are genuine.
“Genuine emails from TV Licensing will never ask you to provide bank details or personal information. ”
Seven ways to spot an email you’ve been sent is a scam:
- The sender’s address doesn’t match the website address of the organisation it says it’s from. Roll your mouse pointer over the sender’s name to reveal its true address.
- The email doesn’t use your proper name – using something like “Dear customer” instead.
- There’s a sense of urgency, asking you to act immediately.
- There’s a prominent website link which may seem like the proper address, but with one character different.
- There’s a request for personal information.
- There are spelling and grammatical errors.
- The entire text of the email is within an image rather than the usual text format and the image contains an embedded hyperlink to a bogus site. Again roll your mouse pointer over the link to reveal its true destination.
For further details regarding TV Licences and how to obtain a refund please visit their official website at www.tvlicensing.co.uk
