Confusing times like the current Covid-19 pandemic are fertile grounds for social engineering scammers – and boy have they been busy over the last few months.
Scammers spent the lockdown period targeting the financial concerns of the most vulnerable, sending them emails, SMS, social media messages, or even calling them by phone, claiming to be offering some form of support, but in reality trying to gather personal information including bank account details, usernames, and passwords.
You may remember I posted a couple of months ago about a scam claiming to be from HMRC, offering tax refunds to small business owners. HMRC report that they are investigating over 10,000 phishing scams and have removed 106 Covid-related, HMRC ‘branded’ websites since March.
While the branding on these emails or websites may look convincing, always remember that official government departments will NOT ask you for personal information via email, phone, or SMS. If in doubt, trust your instincts, and don’t provide your personal information when asked.
