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When your neighbour has a smart vehicle outside and a most courteous though pushy young man mending her roof don't be fooled by the vehicle and his good quality fleece with matching logo. The well printed leaflet he offers is no sign that they're a reputable firm either, nor the fulsome online reviews!
Ask her how she came across this apparently genuine young chancer. The correct answer is not 'He noticed my roof needed attention and knocked on my door.'

Whenever I get a scam phone call there's usually a second or two's silence and a beep before the caller starts to talk. I instantly know it's a scam but let them speak while they read off their script then tell them politely to take me off their list. I find it funny that they say they are ringing from BT when I don't have an account with them. No point getting rude, they are only doing a job and get paid tuppence. Nevertheless what they are doing seems to be illegal.

Always check your credit card statements. Even if they're paperless and you haven't used yiur card that month. I was once fraudently charged £600 for body building supplements.

I am always careful when opening emails from people I don't know.

Happened to me once when an irregular and unusual pattern of spending was picked up by the bank. Got my money back, but now very careful with the security of my details. How can people protect themselves from their own stupidity/naivety?

I'm always wise to email scams!

I once had someone ring me and tell me that my computer had a virus, I knew straight away that it was a con, he was asking me to log on and to give him my password. Some people would have fallen for this, never ever give anyone your log in details to enter you computer. They can do it remotely.

It's far too easy to do; some companies need to be a lot more careful and it would help if the police were at all interested

Never click on links from phishing emails that looks similar to official websites you may use like Paypal. They often have subtle errors in like incorrect email addresses or transactions you have never done.

I Keep getting email saying that they have not received Virgin Media payment and if I don’t put in my bank details and pay immediately the service will be stopped immediately UTTER SCAM, DELETE email

There is a current scam purporting to be from Boots, telling you you have won vouchers. I googled it and the advice was to forward it to
[email protected]
I always google anything like this I am suspicious of. It is horrifying how many of these scams there are.

I am very careful now with anything suspicious looking or sounding. I won't give out any personal details over the phone or in an email and will instead, call a company back if they are asking for these details. I also receive a lot of scam emails and I pass those onto the relevant companies. My husband and myself have both had incidences where our bank details have been confiscated from scammers who have been arrested and someone tried to use my husband's bank card details to purchase items from Wowcher. Luckily, the bank account didn't have sufficient funds!

6/8 for me. I never respond directly to text or emails messages from financial concerns. I will check directly with my bank by firstly logging into my account and or calling the bank using their official website numbers.

Keep a really close eye on credit card bills and query anything you don't recognise. Fraudsters start by taking a small amount before going for larger sums.

My 91 year old dad was called by someone allegedly calling from 'BT' about his computer. By chance, he had been in touch with (the real) BT just a couple of days earlier, so he didn't twig that this might be a scam. They asked for certain numbers to be read out to them, from the computer. My dad can hardly see, so he called my mum in and she started to read the numbers out (this was, of course, to give them access to my dad's PC). Luckily, while all this was going on, my dad suddenly started to get suspicious (he's usually pretty good at not being taken in, despite his advanced years) and told my mum to put the phone down. The advice from his IT expert, who he called immediately, was to turn the computer off, so that they couldn't access it, even if they'd got the number codes. He came round the next day to check it and it was all fine - the scammers hadn't got in but it was a very stressful and worrying experience for both of my parents.

Oops! I only got 6/8 right. Don't think I'll get caught out in real life though. I'm always very cautious about emails, texts and phone calls.

Never click through links in emails from banks etc, if you get an email claiming that you need to log in and asking you to click through the email to do so, report the email as spam as your bank would never do this. If you really think there's a problem with your bank, phone them on the number you already have for them or go to your online banking account but never through en email!
Thanks

Be very carful and wary of everything! Trust no one!! I have now had two card frauds on my bank account - someone setting up payments to a church and another shopping for kids clothes in America. I wasn't able to identify either time where the breach had come from - and it's very frightening and unsettling.
Never click on links in unsolicited emails. Or give out personal details in unsolicited phone calls.
If something sounds too good to be true - it is.

I never answer the phoneif I don't recognise the number, I then Google the number to see what it is. If its dodgy I block it.

scored 6 out of 8! I'm over cautious.

A few years ago my mother called me, quite pleased with herself. She'd had a recorded phone message trying to separate her from her hard-earned savings, but she wasn't going to be caught out. They gave her a number to ring if she was interested, but she'd been on the ball, and said that they'd given her the option of pressing '9' at the end of the call if she didn't want to be bothered in future, which of course she'd done..........I had to let her down very gently.

I was the victim of id theft a few years ago and it was harrowing . It took me months for the data to be wiped from my credit file . I was so careful shredding documents but it goes to show it can happen to anyone

We have a cash point on our lane and so many locals have had money taken out of their account. The fraudsters put this thing over the cash machine so when you put your card in it takes a photo of your card - it really surprised me when I saw it because it looks so odd and it certainly looks dodgy. I am surprised how many people have fallen for it!!

i use two online banking accounts.one is just a basic account and the other a chequebook account. if i purchase anything i simply transfer the amount into my basic account and pay using that.i never keep funds in the basic account so nothing can be taken from it.its far better than giving details of an account with surplus funds in it.

I'm always getting messages from hunky men I don't know on Facebook wanting to get to know me. If you get these, always Google their name as it's inevitably a scammer.