Speaker for 5th September 2017
09/09/17 20:25
President Mike Turner greets Judith Lavery with club members Des Johnston (R) and Eric Fulton (L)
Coleraine Probus and the danger of 'Scams'
Coleraine Probus began their Autumn series of meeting with a Police warning, when Judith Lavery from the PSNI came along to talk about “Email and other Scams”.
Club members were treated to a comprehensive and somewhat worrying talk, as Judith gave detailed information on the multitude of scams aimed at vulnerable residents in the Causeway Coast and Glens district. Judith described the sophisticated means used by criminals, to target their victims - the elderly, isolated, recently bereaved and lonely. At present 13 Crime Prevention Officers investigate the scams in Northern Ireland, 90% of which originate abroad, and that increases the difficulty in obtaining successful prosecutions. However, forewarning people of what could happen, does bring down the chances of the scammers being successful.
In her talk, Judith covered the four main types of scam the criminals use to cheat people of their money, and gave advice on how to avoid falling into the tricksters trap. First, the 'Doorstep caller': typically these are people offering to clean a driveway; replace missing roof tiles; check a 'fault' on your meter or some such work. Never agree to anyone doing work for you that you do not know, have not requested call or have not been recommended by someone you know (and you have spoken to on the phone). Never, ever, allow them inside your home no matter how plausible their story is!
Second, the 'Begging letter': often asking for help for a seemingly good cause or a desperate situation or even miracle medication for an ailment/pain you too may be having. As 'heartless' as this may seen, never ever reply to these letters or even think about sending any money, until you have checked independently the validity of the content. There is a real danger that you would be put on to a 'suckers list' if you contact the sender, and then you could soon be sent more and more of these begging letters - Judith told of a case where one vulnerable lady received 53 letters a day!
Third on Judith's list was the 'Bogus phone calls': these range from the 'trying to sell you something' (PPI reclaim service; windows; changing electricity supplier, etc.) to the highly worrying and dangerous 'there is a problem with your Tax account/Bank account/Credit card' call. Judith explained that this type of call is becoming more common. After explaining the problem (normally a large amount of money missing) the caller will probably say something along the lines of 'please contact your bank right away to confirm this call and the situation can be clarified'. If you do that using the same phone you have received to call on, then the scam caller can still be on the line and they can overhear the genuine bank asking their security questions, your account number and so on, before telling you that the account is in order. However, the scammer now has your account information and can empty the account at any time. Judith's advice was that if you get the 'bank account overdrawn' type of call, check your bank from another phone (a mobile would be best) or leave the original phone (or any extension phone on that line) at least half an hour before contacting the bank, as the call should be properly closed by then. If the call is the 'selling' type, then put the phone down immediately. Judith says that she has been told that these type of callers have a system that can lower your call 'likelihood ranking' the quicker you end the call, thus lessening your number of annoying calls and possibly eventually stopping them (as the callers know they are wasting their time dialling the number!).
The fourth type of scam is the ever popular 'Email scam'. These are so many and different, Judith gave a few basic rules that everyone should follow:- If you do not know the sender and/or are not expecting an email from that company, then treat it with caution. If you do not delete it right away and 'open' the suspect mail, then NEVER use any link that says something like 'click here for more information'. NEVER reply to any email about winning a lottery (or similar) prize. NEVER get into any correspondence with anyone requesting some sort of help (unless they are a friend AND you have confirmed the email separately with them). If the email says it comes from your bank/credit card/'PayPal' etc, then check directly with these people (by phone or your log-in page for that account). If the email 'looks' to be from a safe address, possibly from a friend, but says something like 'Hi, take a look at this' and then gives a website address, it is almost certain it is a scam/trap or virus. Get rid of it, then send a separate email to that friend to tell them their email may be compromised.
Sadly, only 5% of scams are reported, probably because people are too embarrassed to admit that they had been so easily fooled. Judith would encourage everyone to report suspected scams to the police on the 101 police line. To reinforce the protection outlined in Judith’s talk each member received a copy of 'The Little Book of Big Scams' - essential readying for everybody, but not before going to bed, it could induce nightmares and/or sleepless nights!
Coleraine Probus and the danger of 'Scams'
Coleraine Probus began their Autumn series of meeting with a Police warning, when Judith Lavery from the PSNI came along to talk about “Email and other Scams”.
Club members were treated to a comprehensive and somewhat worrying talk, as Judith gave detailed information on the multitude of scams aimed at vulnerable residents in the Causeway Coast and Glens district. Judith described the sophisticated means used by criminals, to target their victims - the elderly, isolated, recently bereaved and lonely. At present 13 Crime Prevention Officers investigate the scams in Northern Ireland, 90% of which originate abroad, and that increases the difficulty in obtaining successful prosecutions. However, forewarning people of what could happen, does bring down the chances of the scammers being successful.
In her talk, Judith covered the four main types of scam the criminals use to cheat people of their money, and gave advice on how to avoid falling into the tricksters trap. First, the 'Doorstep caller': typically these are people offering to clean a driveway; replace missing roof tiles; check a 'fault' on your meter or some such work. Never agree to anyone doing work for you that you do not know, have not requested call or have not been recommended by someone you know (and you have spoken to on the phone). Never, ever, allow them inside your home no matter how plausible their story is!
Second, the 'Begging letter': often asking for help for a seemingly good cause or a desperate situation or even miracle medication for an ailment/pain you too may be having. As 'heartless' as this may seen, never ever reply to these letters or even think about sending any money, until you have checked independently the validity of the content. There is a real danger that you would be put on to a 'suckers list' if you contact the sender, and then you could soon be sent more and more of these begging letters - Judith told of a case where one vulnerable lady received 53 letters a day!
Third on Judith's list was the 'Bogus phone calls': these range from the 'trying to sell you something' (PPI reclaim service; windows; changing electricity supplier, etc.) to the highly worrying and dangerous 'there is a problem with your Tax account/Bank account/Credit card' call. Judith explained that this type of call is becoming more common. After explaining the problem (normally a large amount of money missing) the caller will probably say something along the lines of 'please contact your bank right away to confirm this call and the situation can be clarified'. If you do that using the same phone you have received to call on, then the scam caller can still be on the line and they can overhear the genuine bank asking their security questions, your account number and so on, before telling you that the account is in order. However, the scammer now has your account information and can empty the account at any time. Judith's advice was that if you get the 'bank account overdrawn' type of call, check your bank from another phone (a mobile would be best) or leave the original phone (or any extension phone on that line) at least half an hour before contacting the bank, as the call should be properly closed by then. If the call is the 'selling' type, then put the phone down immediately. Judith says that she has been told that these type of callers have a system that can lower your call 'likelihood ranking' the quicker you end the call, thus lessening your number of annoying calls and possibly eventually stopping them (as the callers know they are wasting their time dialling the number!).
The fourth type of scam is the ever popular 'Email scam'. These are so many and different, Judith gave a few basic rules that everyone should follow:- If you do not know the sender and/or are not expecting an email from that company, then treat it with caution. If you do not delete it right away and 'open' the suspect mail, then NEVER use any link that says something like 'click here for more information'. NEVER reply to any email about winning a lottery (or similar) prize. NEVER get into any correspondence with anyone requesting some sort of help (unless they are a friend AND you have confirmed the email separately with them). If the email says it comes from your bank/credit card/'PayPal' etc, then check directly with these people (by phone or your log-in page for that account). If the email 'looks' to be from a safe address, possibly from a friend, but says something like 'Hi, take a look at this' and then gives a website address, it is almost certain it is a scam/trap or virus. Get rid of it, then send a separate email to that friend to tell them their email may be compromised.
Sadly, only 5% of scams are reported, probably because people are too embarrassed to admit that they had been so easily fooled. Judith would encourage everyone to report suspected scams to the police on the 101 police line. To reinforce the protection outlined in Judith’s talk each member received a copy of 'The Little Book of Big Scams' - essential readying for everybody, but not before going to bed, it could induce nightmares and/or sleepless nights!
