TV Licensing and Action Fraud has issued a scam warning to Gedling borough residents after receiving around reports of fraudulent emails.
The suspect TV Licence emails claim the recipient is owed a refund or there are payment issues.
The fraudsters are using headlines such as ‘correct your licensing information’, ‘billing information updates’ and ‘renew now’ to trick people into clicking on the link within the email.
But it seems these scammers are prepared to play the waiting game to reel you in. Many victims are reporting they have then received a phone call from the fraudster a week or two later claiming to be from the fraud department of the victim’s bank. They will then try and convince victims they are genuine banking staff by using the personal details that the victim provided through the fake website.
The fraudsters then go on to claim that the victim’s account has been compromised, possibly by a phishing scam they may have fallen victim to recently, and that they need to transfer their money to a new ‘safe account’.
Director of Action Fraud, Pauline Smith, said:“Bank staff and police officers will never ask you to move money to a safe account.
“It is also important that you never click on links in emails you were not expecting.
“If you believe you have been a victim of fraud, please report it us.”
A TV Licensing spokesperson told Gedling Eye: “We’re continuing to work closely with Action Fraud to raise awareness of the scam emails circulating to the public, posing as genuine TV Licensing communications.
“TV Licensing will never email customers, unprompted, to ask for bank details, personal information or tell you that you may be entitled to a refund.
“Anyone who has provided their details as a result of a fraudulent email should report it to Action Fraud. If they have provided bank details, they should call their bank urgently. TV Licensing offers helpful information on scam emails at the following link: www.tvlicensing.co.uk/scam. ”