There is no question that over the last few years, businesses and households have been affected by spending cuts or economic recession. With such difficult circumstances, there has been increased opportunity for fraudsters to send phishing or scam emails, to try and obtain information and commit fraud.

Phishing Emails

So called phishing emails are sent to your inbox with the sole purpose of gaining personal information, that is then to be most likely used to defraud you. With this in mind, these kinds of emails will come from financial related sources, such as your Bank, Building Society and PayPal.

How to spot phishing emails

These emails will usually not contain your name, as they are sent out to tens of thousands of people.  The email will start along the lines of “Dear Customer” or “Dear valued member”.  They will then continue to describe there being a problem with your account, or that you have restricted access.  The email most commonly will have an attachment or link to click, that the sender claims will resovle this problem.

NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, CLICK ON SUCH A LINK OR ATTACHMENT OR REPLY TO THE SENDER.

It is part of the email that can be dangerous to your security. The links most usually take you to a third party website.

So, what do I do?

Report the email. Even if it happens to be from a bank that you have no connections with and so is obviously a scam, then please take the time to report it still. It only takes a few seconds and helps the ongoing battle to keep people safe online and bring those who send these emails to justice.  Banking and financial holders like PayPal have email addresses to froward the emails to. After this, they can investigate them. All you have to do is forward the email as you received it and then delete it from your computer altogether. Remember, don’t ever click on the attachments or links. Lets stay safe online.

Reporting spoof or scam email addresses

Here are some of the most common companies the phishing emails claim to be from and their specific email addresses to report the scam emails to. Remember, forward the suspected fraudulent email to here, then delete it.

PayPal – spoof@paypal.com
Halifax – security@halifax.co.uk
Lloyds TSB – emailscams@lloydstsb.co.uk
Royal Bank of Scotland – phishing@rbs.co.uk
Santander – phishing@santander.co.uk
Natwest – phishing@natwest.com

Editor