Update Whatsapp Group settings to avoid scams

WhatsApp has changed its group settings to include “everyone” by default so people you don’t know can add you to a group without your knowing.  These people may include scam messages, loan Sharks, etc.

You can change its default settings as follows:

1. Go to WhatsApp:

2. Go into Settings

3. Go to Account

4. Go to Privacy

5.  Go to Groups

6.  Change from (Everyone) to (My Contacts)

https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/security-and-privacy/how-to-change-group-privacy-settings

https://www.internetmatters.org/parental-controls/social-media/whatsapp/

Warning to Stables of Suspicious person

A local resident recently received this just from NCRA (North Cray Residents Association) on Tuesday 11th May 1.00pm.

A short while ago I was contacted by phone by the lady who keeps her horses in the field at the top of Parsonage Lane on the corner of Cocksure Lane.

She had just been contacted by the young girl who loans one of her horses and who was tending to them at the time. Apparently a youngish black man stood at the far gate and was staring at her. He asked about the horses, took some photos (she thinks) and made personal remarks to her asking her questions including asking for her contact and social media details. He asked to be let into the field and she told him ‘no’. She was scared and hid in the tack room, ringing the horses’ owner as well as Silverdene.

The owner rang NCRA and asked if this could be reported to the local community, and especially the residents of Parsonage Lane, to ensure that we are all vigilant because of this suspicious/inappropriate behaviour. This man, probably in his twenties, was wearing a red top, shorts and whitish flip-flops. He stayed for about ten minutes and then walked off down Parsonage Lane in the direction of the North Cray Road, She could not see any evidence of his having a car.

This has since been circulated via the Parsonage Lane WhatsApp group & NCRA.

This post raises awareness to be on the lookout for the individual. If you have any information or witnessed this description of the suspicious person or have any CCTV footage about that time please contact 101 or the NCRA to report him or contact Bexley Watch. You may contact Crimestoppers anonmously or on 0800 555 111.

What does Action Fraud do?

Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud. 

You should report all types of fraud to Action Fraud whether or not you choose to report it to another agency such as Trading Standards or your bank as well. This includes if you have been the victim of attempted fraud or cybercrime, you have incurred a financial loss as a result of fraud, your personal data has been compromised or you have been hacked as a result of responding to a fraudulent email or text. This ensures that all frauds can be recorded and assessed and that trends in fraud can be identified, assisting with the identification of offenders. 

Fraudsters are often clever and take advantage of the shame that many people feel if they have been taken in by them, that can prevent people reporting fraud. Fraud can happen to anyone - do not be too embarrassed to report if you have been conned or tricked out of money or your personal data. Reporting fraud helps track down and stop fraudsters and can prevent other people from becoming their victims. 

It’s quickest to report fraud to Action Fraud online using the online reporting tool, but you can also report by phone on 0300 123 2040 Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm. 

If you can’t hear or speak on the phone, you can use Relay UK with an app or a textphone on 18001 then 0300 123 2050. 

Action Fraud collates the reports and will give you a crime reference number, which can be helpful if you need to tell your bank you’ve been a victim of fraud. It passes details of all fraud reports received to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). If there are active lines of enquiry, a substantial amount of money has been lost or the victim is particularly vulnerable, the NFIB may investigate themselves or pass the details to the local police force to initiate an investigation. Everyone who reports a fraud to Action Fraud has the option to receive support from Victim Support afterwards. 

Not every report results in an investigation, but every report helps to build a clear picture of fraud, contributes to making the UK a more hostile place for fraudsters to operate in and helps to keep other potential victims safe. 

If you have received a suspicious text message (smishing) 

You can forward a suspicious text message from your phone to Action Fraud free of charge by sending it to 7726. This enables your provider to identify the origin of the text and take action. 

If you’ve been a victim of a smishing fraud, then you also need to report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040, or by using their online form. 

If you have received a suspicious email (phishing) If you have received an email which you’re not quite sure about, forward it to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) report@phishing.gov.uk. It will go to the National Cyber Security Centre who will analyse the suspect email and any websites it links to and use any additional information you’ve provided to look for and monitor suspicious activity. 

If you think you may have been a victim of fraud as a result of phishing you should also report this to Action Fraud. 

When to call the police 

Contact the police immediately by calling 101 if (any of the following occurs): 

• The fraudster is in still your area 
• You need help, support and / or assistance as result of the fraud 
• A fraud is being committed, or recently occurred (within 24 hours) 
• You know the suspect and they reside in the UK 
• The victim is perceived to be vulnerable (this may be through age, or by way of mental, or physical impairment, or in need of care and support) 
• You believe that it is important to report the incident to police quickly in order that police can secure and preserve evidence, or prevent loss (i.e. CCTV, recover large amounts of money transferred from bank accounts before the criminal can remove it)

If you feel threatened or unsafe call 999.

Which? free scam alert service

Unfortunately email, text, phone and social media scams are on the rise. People are falling victim every day with scammers stealing billions of pounds. Which? is aiming to arm the public with the knowledge of how to spot and avoid scams. 

Which?’s free scam alerts are regular email updates on the latest scams. They also include practical advice and next steps for victims. The latest alert included information about a fake FluBot text that’s been circulating. It unpicks the scam, what to look out for and how to protect yourself if you’ve been targeted. 

If you are interested in signing up to Which?’s free Scam Alert service click here.

You can always follow this blog to get alerts as well.

Friends Against Scams Online Learning

Scams awareness online provided by National Trading Standards. Lots of useful information.

By attending a Friends Against Scams awareness session or completing the online learning, anyone can learn about the different types of scams and how to spot and support a victim. With increased knowledge and awareness, people can make scams part of everyday conversation with their family, friends and neighbours, which will enable them to protect themselves and others.

After this session you will be asked to start taking action to take a stand against scams. This could be by talking to your neighbours, friends or family about scams or writing to your local MP asking them to promote scams awareness action by delivering key messages to prevent people from being scammed. 

There are two versions of the online awareness session that you can choose from. You can either watch their new video which is a short and condensed version (8 minutes) or you can scroll down to complete our original interactive session (about 20 minutes).

Chapter 1:   Why is learning about scams important?

Chapter 2:   Types of scams

Chapter 3:   How to spot a scam victim

Chapter 4:   Spot the signs

Chapter 5:   Helping friends and family

Chapter 6:   Reporting and advice

Chapter 7:   Congratulations - You are now a Friend Against Scams

Chapter 8:   Other 'Friends' initiatives

Visit start the e-learning course online for free to find out more or Click Start to continue.

Why scams must be included in the Online Safety Bill

The tech giants are not doing enough to stop lives being devastated by fraud. We’re demanding the government includes scams in the Online Safety Bill.

Which? has joined forces with a coalition of organisations championing consumers, and representing civil society and business, to warn that the UK risks failing in its ambition to be the safest place in the world to be online unless it uses new laws to protect people from an avalanche of online scams.

This is their open letter sent to the Home Secretary and DCMS Secretary:

Scams and the Online Safety Bill: 05 May 2021

Dear Home Secretary and Secretary of State,

We are writing to you regarding the forthcoming Online Safety Bill. We urge the Government to expand the scope of this vital legislation to include fake and fraudulent content that leads to scams. This would better protect people against the devastating financial and emotional harm caused by these crimes.

As a group of organisations representing consumers, civil society and several sectors of the economy, including banking and financial services, we recognise how essential online services have become in people’s daily lives as a result of changes in the past year.

There are now more people spending more time online and the benefits of this are significant. We are determined that people can continue to make the most of this shift and fundamental to this will be ensuring their safety online.

Yet there is a problem because the existing laws and regulations designed to protect consumers in the online world have failed to keep pace with criminals in this modern arena. This is particularly the case in relation to scams, where fraudsters are increasingly taking advantage of online platforms to target victims.

Online platforms play a pivotal role in enabling criminals to reach and defraud internet users through the hosting, promotion and targeting of fake and fraudulent content on their sites, including adverts that they make significant profits from. Yet platforms have very little legal responsibility for protecting their users, despite often being the best placed to tackle harmful content.

3.7 million incidents of fraud

To illustrate the size of this problem, ONS data shows there were 3.7 million incidents of fraud between March 2019 and March 2020, making it the crime that adults are most likely to fall victim to in the UK, while Action Fraud figures show £1.7 billion was lost to scams in the last year.

UK Finance data shows that across scam types, there has been a significant rise in cases over the past year, with criminals adapting to target victims online.

As an example, there was a 32% increase in investment scam cases in 2020, which are often promoted through adverts on search engines offering higher than average returns, and a 38% increase in cases of romance scams, driven by the rise in online dating during the pandemic.

These figures are likely a significant underestimate of the true value and do not take into account the fact that even when the victim is reimbursed, criminals still retain illegal proceeds, reinvesting them in further organised illegal activity, causing wider societal harm. Nor do they capture the equally devastating emotional impact that scams have on victims.

Even if people are able to get their money back after falling victim, they can still experience significant emotional harm. Four in ten (42%) Money and Mental Health Research Community respondents who had fallen victim to an online scam felt that they had experienced a major negative impact on their mental health. Vulnerable people, including those experiencing mental health problems, are also more at risk of falling victim to these crimes.

Action against fake and fraudulent content

Across industry, regulators and consumer groups, there is now wide-ranging consensus on the urgent need for action to tackle scams and the critical role that online platforms must take in protecting users from the harm caused by fake and fraudulent content.

We believe that fake and fraudulent content that leads to scams must be included in scope of the proposed Online Safety Bill. This would require online platforms to identify, remove and prevent fake and fraudulent content from being hosted on their sites, putting in place incentives for platforms to work together with the telecoms, banking and finance sectors to tackle economic crime.

While we recognise there are initiatives being progressed by the Government designed to tackle aspects of online fraud, there is a growing risk that current plans for future regulatory frameworks are not taking a comprehensive approach to the threats faced by consumers and do not reflect the extent or urgency of the problem.

We remain committed to working with the Government on this vital issue, toward our shared ambition for the UK to be the safest place in the world to be online, so that people and businesses continue to benefit from the shift to digital.

Copies of this letter go to the Minister for Digital and Culture, the Minister of State at the Home Office, the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and the Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health.

Download the letter in full (pdf)

Source: Which?

BBNWA expands with efforts to fight Cyber Crime

Please see attached newspaper article that was in this Sunday's Express which is from National Neighbourhood Watch and highlights is headlined "Neighbourhood Watch goes cyber" and highlights that younger people are joining Neighbourhood Watch as they see Cyber Crime as even more serious than Burglary. 

Bexley Neighbourhood Watch can confirm that this is the trend in our Borough and that we are working to improve our systems and to be able to offer information on Cyber Crime through our many social media outlets.

 

We continue to work in communities not forgetting that not all are online or have access to such areas and while we support all of our residents of all ages this growing crime needs combating in Bexley.

 

We suggest that younger residents could be really helpful in both awareness and fighting these on-line criminals.

 

Via our Website, Blog, Weekly Report, Facebook etc., we will continue to highlight such crime, which was also highlighted recently on an ITV programme (on the 6th May) titled "Cheats, Fiddles & Scams-Protecting your money" 

 

If not already a member why not join us now and help us stop our residents being exploited by such criminals.