Sharp rise in fake TSB text messages and phishing emails

How To Spot Fake Email Addresses?

Every day, we get multiple emails, some for Amazon order confirmation, some for health checkups, restaurants/takeaway notifications, and some for fake. We delete many without looking into the details, but some are convincing and reliable.

If you receive any such messages from a reliable company with different addresses, do not respond; report it or forward it to regulatory agencies. The opportunist fraudsters use smishing (SMS + phishing) techniques to extract the recipient's PIN, passwords, and sensitive details.

People are tricked into looking into individual emails. They are redirected to websites selling fake services and products as they click the links since many are fooled into believing the messages. 

Action Fraud reported over 80 per cent of the attempts are related to website links. While your system can be safe and secure, they use sophisticated mechanisms to approach customers. Hence, it would be best to be alert and not assume all communications are authentic.

They use software to change the sender ID, and the messages look like they are coming from an authorised source, as spoofing is commonly used to change the address and numbers.

There Are Ways One Can Spot Fakes - 

• Check if the sender's full address is not mentioned as a default. Instead, it shows the sender's name as Amazon Order or Amazon. 

• You can click the email address to see if the name can be seen, and if the mail arrives from an unusual domain other than the regular amazon.co.uk or .com, it shows a con.

• Such emails have multiple irregularities that one can track, like grammar errors, unlike genuine automated mail. For example, the contact details and instructions may not be understandable, written in small fonts, or completely wrong. It shows the confirmation email is not real.

• If the sender creates panic, it indicates they want to extract information or get your account details. They expect you to call the company, tell them about the irregularity, and disclose your details. They have your email address and name and may seek more information about their targets.

What Should You Not Do If You Get The Messages?

• Never click on the links sent in such emails as they aim to get personal details through the fake fill-in forms, or they may install malware into your device.

• Please do not ring the contact number out of curiosity, as it can be one of the prime tricks where you can lose a lot of money by confirming your number.

• Be vigilant if you cannot confirm the identity of the messages they used to contact you. They may claim to be from a trusted source and ask for pins, passwords, or random information.

• Do not initiate any fund transfer to an unknown account, specifically if you have been asked to pay unusually, like crypto-assets or vouchers.

• Microsoft recently warned office users to be attentive to the techniques the scammers use to evade filters to enter your inbox, like spoofed display sender address, sender email address, target usernames, domains, and display names.

• However, if you click on such logins or give any details to the unknown sender, change your login credentials immediately.