Common Scams Section

[myglaren]

Just spotted this on the Beeb.

Metro passenger's warning over 'devious' scammers

A victim of a social media scam claiming to offer free public transport has said fraudsters tried to take money out of her account for three months.

Patricia Daglish, from Gateshead, made a purchase from the fraudulent page, which promised six months of unlimited free travel in the Newcastle area with a £2 Pop Pay As You Go (PAYG) card.

She said she thought it was "too good to be true", but initially believed the advert came from an official Tyne and Wear Metro Facebook page.

Metro operator Nexus said it had reported the scam page - which gets taken down but then appears again with a new name - dozens of times. Facebook has been approached for a comment.

There are likely to be similar scams for other areas too.

[mickthemaverick]

A classic example of why I keep Facebook and all its associated stuff off my devices!!

[GiveMeABreak]

if it sounds too good to be true......

[myglaren]

Driver charged £170 in fake parking code scam

A driver was fraudulently charged £170 after falling for a scam at a seafront car park.

Fraudsters targeted a parking area at Whitburn Road, Sunderland, by placing QR codes on payment machines.

When people scanned the codes to pay they were taken to a fake website which allowed the criminals to take money from their bank accounts.

Councillor Lindsey Leonard said the QR codes have now been removed but she wanted to "raise awareness among everyone using a ticket machine".

"Scammers are targeting unsuspecting drivers and we don't want anyone else to lose their hard-earned money to these fraudsters," she said.

The council, which is not "ruling out the possibility that other car parks may be targeted", urged people to pay for parking using the official RingGo app.

Beeb.

[Stickyfinger]

A classic example of why I keep Facebook and all its associated stuff off my devices!!

You are on a public forum !

[mickthemaverick]

Not a forum owned by the big three though Alasdair. If it were I wouldn't be here.

[myglaren]

I am not as cautious as you are Mick, smugly using Linux as I maintain that Microsoft and Apple are very snoopy. I won't entertain Twitty, especially since the muskrat and trumpy have elbowed their way into it, same with facebook and the like and refuse to add 'apps' to my phone. Partly for the cringeworthy word 'apps' and mainly for the intrusions probable.
And my machines are wiped at shutdown every day.

[mickthemaverick]

In order to do anything I have to allow certain software from the big 3 as I use Youtube and Windows but I minimise it as much as possible, not using any open social media or cloud storage. I do all my backups to discreet media and empty my caches everytime I can i never permit cookies beyond the essentials and suffer worse performance no doubt but I prefer to suffer that rather than grant permission for any site to stick whateve they want on my devices. I never click links in emails or scan QR codes because you just don't know what you may be letting yourself in for. As a result I do not see posts which link anywhere off the forum other than youtube.
Paranoid? Me? Never?

[myglaren]

My weakness is YouTube, watch that far too much.

[bobins]

Regarding Bookface, Twittish, and all the other social meedya things - as someone once said - "If you're not paying for the product, then you are the product"

[CitroJim]

When on-line, stay safe by using common sense whilst always abiding by our old motto at work: 'Ever Vigilant'

If something looks too good to be true or wrong then invariably it is. The Internet is a wild, generally lawless place. Always keep that in mind.

Used sensibly, various parts of the Internet can bring a lot of pleasure and be very valuable. I know many love YouTube and I'm sure it brings a lot of enjoyment.

I love the cautious use of Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp for keeping in touch with my wide circle of friends - especially when I'm not as able to get out and about as I'd like to be.

[myglaren]

Just had a phone call from - purportedly - the immigration bureau or somesuch.
In English and Chinese.

Reported it as a scammer and a few moments later there was an advisory in one of my Gmail accounts about the scammer feedback.

[myglaren]

And an email and text from BT offering me £900 of a Samsung Galaxy whatnot.
I paid £120 for my current phone and that was more than enough.
Saw some second hand phones for over a grand recently.
That has to be a scam.

[CitroJim]

Just had a phone call from - purportedly - the immigration bureau or somesuch.
In English and Chinese.

I almost feel left out and feeling a sense of FOMO here - I so rarely get and scams aimed at me, either by phone or email I'm almost disappointed... I'm either doing something very right or very wrong

And considering how public-facing I am and my extensive use of Facebook and the like, that's surprising. As said above though, I'm ever vigilant...

[myglaren]

Not often I get any although my BT mail spam folder is always full.
The BT offer was of course not a scam but a ridiculous price for something as unnecessary as a phone.