Watch out for the latest Cost of Living scams
Scammers are ruthless criminals that always look to exploit any economic crisis. During covid for example, UK Finance reported that scammers exploited the crisis to the tune of £479 million in APP fraud losses in 2020, a significant increase on the previous year.
The fraudsters are now turning their sights to the cost of living crisis, and looking at ways to exploit the crisis to their benefit. Refundee have already seen examples of the cost of living, in particular energy prices and government rebates, being used by scammers to trick victims into sophisticated and elaborate scams.
How are scammers using the cost of living crises to trick victims and can victims get their money back from their bank?
Energy rebate scams
In spring 2022, The UK Government announced a energy rebate of £200 to help the public pay for the large increase in energy prices. This was increased to £400 from October, and was widely covered in the media. The Government later announced that it would be capping bills at £2,500, something that was also widely covered in the media.
With such wide publicity and the announcement of ‘rebates’ and ‘grants’, fraudsters jumped at the opportunity to use the news to try and target the public with scams. The public generally were not told that the rebates would be granted without them needing to do anything. This left many people thinking they need to apply and as such, open to exploitation by fraudsters.
Energy rebate scam SMS messages
How do these scammers target the public? They send SMS messages on a large scale purporting to be from the UK Government claiming that the energy rebate is available for all individuals who apply. The SMS contains a link, and when followed, this link takes the victim to a formal looking government website, only the URL will not match the government's website. The scammers use this to harvest information, asking for the personal information of their target. The victim thinks that they are applying for their rebate, when in actual fact they are providing their details to a fraudster. The fraudster then uses that information typically to target them with a ‘safe account’ scam.
A summary of the steps in the scam are below:
The victim receives an SMS from the Government urging them to apply for an energy rebate. The SMS contains a link. The victim has heard about the rebate in the news and it makes sense they need to apply
The victim clicks the link, see’s a Government website and fills in their details
The fraudster takes that information and then targets the individual with a scam, typically a safe account scam
What is a safe account scam?
At this stage the fraudster has the personal details of the individual, and now will try and get their money by pretending to be their bank. They will spoof the bank's number as close as possible, often the number is just one digit difference, and they will tell you that your account is under attack from fraudsters. They ask if you replied to an energy rebate SMS, and they confirm that this was the cause of fraudsters accessing your account.
They tell you the only way to protect your account is by moving the money to a new ‘safe account’ whose details are not compromised or known by the fraudsters. These are incredibly convincing scams, at this point everything seems to add up and the bank on the phone has all of your personal information you think only the bank would know.
But, the scammers have used the information from the SMS to pretend to be your bank. And there is no such thing as a safe account, so the real account receiving the money you send is unfortunately the criminal themselves. This is what is known as a safe account scam, they are very convincing and involve sophisticated manipulation tactics.
I fell victim to an energy rebate scam, can I get my money back from a bank transfer?
If the above scenario sounds familiar, don’t panic, it is possible that you can get your money back. Your first step should be to contact your bank and tell them, requesting a refund. We often see that victims of this type of scam are not treated fairly, so remember that Refundee is always available to help.
If you have lost money to this type of scam, Refundee can help you get your money back from your bank and you can fill in our fraud refund claim form for a free consultation. Our fee is 15% plus VAT on anything that we get back, and we don't charge anything if we are not successful. For larger cases, the fee is subject to a maximum of £10k plus VAT per case.
Remember you don’t need to use a company like Refundee, you could work your case yourself for free! If you’d like to get a refund yourself, you can do this by following our bank transfer refund guide.
A scammer has my information. What should I do?
If you have responded to one of these energy rebate SMS messages, or a similar SMS message, and the scammer has your information, there are some steps you can take to try and protect yourself:
The scammers are now likely to contact you saying they are your bank. If you receive any phone calls from authority figures, hang up. If they say they are bank, call 159 which is an official line set up by the banks which will direct you to your bank through official channels
Be suspicious of any phone calls from authority figures
If you disclosed card details, order a new bank card
Look out for follow up emails or SMS messages saying they are from your bank or other official sources
The scammers will likely target you using the information, but their aim would normally be to try and trick you into sending money. But if you want to find out how to protect yourself against fraudulent applications, you can contact CIFAS who can offer something called Protective Registration.
