Amazon Scam!

Thanks Mallly I hope I wouldn't fall for it but it's good to be aware

Thanks for the heads up BM, it's always appreciated.

I got a scam email just now purporting to be from HM Revenue and Customs, saying I was due a tax refund. Ha! Since I'm not self-employed refunds appear automatically on my wage slip.

I'm also sure that HMRC would be courteous enough to address me by name, not by email address, plus all government links start www.gov.uk......

Still , another to watch out for.

Cheers BM. Loads of this sort of stuff about - emails, phone calls the lot. I have a set of rules to work by:

NEVER click on a link in any email unless you know, trust and have spoken to the person who sent it and have been assured it is safe. Remember that people's emails (and Skype, Facebook, Twitter etc) can be hacked. If in doubt, don't, or at least check first.

NEVER give any financial or personal information of any sort to anyone who phones you unexpectedly even if they say your bank account has been hacked etc. Even if you have had a letter from your bank telling you they are going to phone you (current scam). Always phone them back, using a different phone line (because putting your receiver down doesn't cut them off), and phone the number you have on your bank statement etc, not on an unsolicited letter. Similarly if someone phones and says they are from Microsoft, your ISP, phone company or something equally reasonable sounding, don't believe them. Don't let people on the telephone take you to websites they suggest or take control of your computer remotely to remove a "virus" etc unless you have initiated the call because you have a problem.

Be wary of being kept talking at the front door by a cold calling salesman. Even if you don't let them in, they can work in pairs and the other one can nip round the back and steal stuff if your back door is unlocked.

And don't forget to carefully check bank and credit card statements, even small items. Fraudsters often put through a small item just to check card is working before they go for the hit. Also make sure fraudulent entries are reversed. It took me three goes at Nationwide to reverse the fraud.

My wife had a genuine call yesterday that her debit card details had been used in New York. What probably flagged up the fraud was that the dates showed her being in London at same time!

Can't be too careful these days... I always check the email address - even when it looks like its come from a genuine company, if you look at the email address you know its definitely not!