Scams

TWO men arrested in Belfast as part of an investigation into suspected fraud involving the sale of vehicles online have been charged.

The pair, aged 29 and 24, have been charged with fraud by misrepresentation, after they were arrested on Monday after arriving in Belfast by ferry.

https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2023/05/16/news/pair_charged_as_part_of_fraud_probe_into_online_vehicle_sales-3282746/?param=ds441rif44T

British men are taking payments of thousands of pounds to pose as fathers for migrant women's babies, a BBC investigation has found.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65556437?mc_cid=48d97bb165&mc_eid=72e89a1d85

Two brothers have been jailed for defrauding £2m from “unsuspecting, ordinary, busy” people who were tricked into thinking they needed to pay for European health insurance cards (Ehics).

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/15/sunderland-brothers-jailed-2m-ehic-scam-damien-and-dale-sartip-zadeh

A spoof site for RingGo saw unsuspecting drivers scammed as they attempted to pay to park. But after YourMoney.com alerted the parking service and Google to the copycat site, it’s no longer ranking in the top spot on the search engine.

https://www.yourmoney.com/household-bills/ringgo-scam-foiled-but-drivers-warned-of-rise-in-cashless-parking-fraud/

Whether you’ve been getting dodgy messages on Instagram, or you’ve been conned out of money on Facebook, Jenny Radcliffe will be here to tell you how to spot a social media scam. Plus, she’ll be hearing some of your stories and questions.

https://www.itv.com/thismorning/articles/how-to-spot-a-social-media-scam-with-jenny-radcliffe

Phishing: Spot and report scam emails, texts, websites and calls.

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phishing-scams/report-scam-text-message

TSB says 80% of cases in its main fraud categories come from scams on Meta platforms including Instagram.

Meta has been urged to take action to protect customers from fraud, after TSB said scams via the social media company’s platforms Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram have soared.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/05/facebook-whatsapp-instagram-fraud-scams-tsb-meta?CMP=share_btn_tw

Tax credits customers will receive their annual renewal packs between May 2 and June 15, but scammers are anticipated to strike.

https://www.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/1764623/hmrc-scam-warning-tax-credits

A TECH-SAVVY York man who lost £12,000 in an investment scam that used images of famous TV stars as bait is warning others not to make the same mistake.

https://uk.style.yahoo.com/kicking-myself-warning-york-dad-030000256.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

TSB Bank have demanded that Meta-owned companies, such as Facebook and Whatsapp, take greater responsibility for fraud carried out on their platforms as the government launches its new fraud crackdown.

https://www.cityam.com/lloyds-tsb-bank-demand-facebook-and-whatsapp-take-responsibility-for-fraud-on-their-platforms/