Don’t fall victim to fraud

We’ve seen a 5% annual rise in money lost to “authorised fraud” according to UK Finance.* This is where customers unwittingly sanction payment to criminals.

Alongside this there’s been a reported 94% increase in impersonation scams where criminals pose as trusted organisations to con money out of the general public. This has added up to nearly £97m being conned and taken.

With online scams on the rise, we wanted to share with you a few tips to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.

Choose strong passwords

A strong password is at least eight characters in length and includes a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. You can also use password generators that will encrypt these for you.

Watch out for phishing scams

Do not click on links or open any attachments or pop-up screens from sources you are not familiar with. Some banks and companies allow you to forward phishing and spam emails to them so they can help prevent this happening to others.

Shop safely

If you shop online, ensure that the website you’re using uses secure technology. Also check if the website has a tiny locked padlock in the url area, as this will also tell you how secure the website is.

Keep personal information safe

Be wary of requests from people you do not know on social media. Hackers can use social media profiles to figure out your passwords or by answering security questions in the password reset tools. Avoid posting things like birthdays, addresses, etc.