- Wordplay part four - 3rd December 2024
- Terms of endearment (Wordplay part three) - 2nd December 2024
- More ‘Water, water everywhere…’ (Copyright ST Coleridge) part two - 23rd November 2024
After 23 years with The BBC, and a 41 year journalistic career (when he was trained to use clear and simple language, avoiding jargon), our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry today notes the disturbing truth that as The Eye becomes ever more popular it is increasingly the target of scammers.
It’s becoming worse.
Almost every day I have to deal with obvious scams, as people demand money from The Eye.
They will send in fraudulent claims using our publicly-available gmail address, often for hundreds of pounds, or offer access to a treasure trove of money (that way they lure you in).
A typical piece of nonsense was:
Attention Beneficiary
My name is Bernard Lauwers, Finance Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Note that you have received this payment notice because you have been confirmed a legal beneficiary of the said compensation fund worth $10.7 million dollars from the United Nations Compensation Commission in Conjunction with the International Monetary Fund….
Hence, you are advised to acknowledge receipt of this email as soon as received to enable us to confirm that your email address is still active before we can furnish you with further details of your payment today.
Best Regards,
Mr. Bernard Lauwers
Finance Director of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF)(601)
Address: 700 19th Street, N.W, Washington, D.C. 20431, USA
Another one supposedly came from the Royal Bank of Scotland (which we don’t bank with anyway), and declared:
| Dear customer,
To protect your security, we`ve now decided to stop any further spending on your RBS Debit Card. This is due to a recent changes on your account persoanl information. (eg: Billing address, Phone number) To ensure its real you Banking or Shopping Online. We need to verify your account personal information. This will help us in safeguarding your account and financial assets from unauthorized use at no cost. Please note: Failure to comply with our account verification process may lead to temporary suspension of access to our online and telephone banking service. We`re here to assist you anytime. Your account security is our priority. How does it work ? If we detect a sign in with your user name from an unrecognized device we may decide that we want to confirm that it’s really you. You must complete all steps otherwise you will not be able to use the online service until we have completed additional security checks. Sincerely, Royal Bank of Scotland Security Team |
They have become more sophisticated, too, so rather than demanding money straight out, some will try to entice you in.
There is the one where a ‘relative’ will ask if you can help them.
This appears perfectly innocent, but if you answer positively you will then be confronted by a message that he or she can’t get to the shops, and asks if you can buy a gift token for a dying friend and send it to them.
You may feel heartless if you don’t do this, but it is, of course, a scam.
What they then do is take the token to the designated supplier, and get a refund in cash which they then pocket.
Or there’s the one offering you a ‘receipt’ for goods you never ordered, and giving a phone number for queries.
You are then tempted in and might give your bank details, but to the last one I asked: “Are you happy being a scammer?”.
A recent one which aroused suspicions because of the way it was worded, was:
“Dear Valued Client,
team is working hard to ensure a quick and secure delivery. Your trust
is greatly valued”.
You cannot, either, be guided by what looks like an official form with the company logo on it.
These logos are easily found on the internet, and then mocked up.
What you need to do is ring the company or bank yourself to check it out, but be absolutely sure you are speaking to the person you think you are, because scammers often intercept calls as they know you will do this.
You are often then given the information: “No, we didn’t contact you!”.
At least that way you might be safe – which is more than we are from scammers targeting The Eye!
The memories of Phil’s astounding, decades long award-winning career in journalism (when scams were rare at the beginning) as he was gripped by the rare neurological disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A Good Story’. Order it now.
Tomorrow – how during his lengthy career, for Phil official apologies were a constant source of hilarity.
