Scams are getting clever!

With the advent of more powerful computers, more complex online systems and the reliance on conducting business online as well as the rapid advancement of AI systems, you need to be more careful than ever to protect yourself against fraud.
Whilst we want to highlight some key steps you can take to safeguard yourself, the true scale of the problem is best illustrated by James Shack, a regulated financial advisor from London, who explains how one couple lost £75,000, their whole life savings to a very clever, but ultimately easily preventable scam. Watch the video here:

YouTube Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1tVI5OhWRM

Summary

Re-using passwords is the single weakest point of attack. If you have used the same password, even if you changed the numbers after it, between low security sites like forums, online shops, or anything else that likely isn’t held to a high security standard and something that is, such as online banking, email clients or payment services then you are extremely vulnerable. Its unlikely that Gmail will be hacked, but its quite possible that many other websites will be. Scammers will immediately buy those lists of leaked email/password combinations and immediately try them across important sites like Gmail. Its trivial to attempt the same password many times with varying combinations of numbers or characters until they get a hit. Those hits can then conduct the type of scam detailed above. Once they can read your emails, from lawyers, brokers, solicitors etc then they can trick you very easily.

Steps to consider

• Use a password manager to ensure that all your passwords are different across sites, especially those that you need to be most secure.
• Use 2 Factor Authentication wherever possible. This can be using a 6 digit code you have to enter that your phone generates every 10 seconds each time you log in from a new device, it could be a text message with a code or something more complex provided by the issuer, much like online banking code generators that require the card to be inserted. Whilst these are not invulnerable, they exponentially increase the difficulty. Nothing is fool proof, but like a good padlock, it makes it more likely that a criminal will decide its not worth the considerable effort to defeat.
• When responding to requests for money, always ignore the details in an email and look up the business or person online and obtain their details independently. Almost all solicitors and businesses will advise that they do not request certain sensitive information by email for this reason.
• Send a test payment. Transfer a random amount such as £1.66 and then call to verify, asking for confirmation of the transferred amount before sending a larger payment. This does two things. Ensures you haven’t made a mistake in the bank details, which is easily done, and ensures that the bank account details you have are the ones that relate to the business that you’ve contacted directly from your own records or from an online source.

Whilst vigilance when it comes to contact online, comments and even phone calls now is incredibly important, it all starts with the right information at the right time. Ensuring that scammers cannot gain access to your social media accounts, your email and your work accounts is crucial and the simplest thing you can do to ensure this is much less likely is to ensure you have a good password system.
Here’s some information about your options when it comes to managing passwords from the UK’s Nation Cyber Security Centre: Password managers: using browsers and apps to safely store… – NCSC.GOV.UK
Here are 2 options recommended by WireCutter from the New York Times: The 2 Best Password Managers of 2024 | Reviews by Wirecutter (nytimes.com)
None of the above are affiliate links for us, but the Wirecutter do appear to have affiliate links.

Other property related fraud risks

Identity Theft

Identity theft is a significant issue in the UK. Having credit taken out in your name can be extremely damaging as there’s little way to prove it wasn’t you. There are a few options available to you however:
Most credit reference agencies offer a paid service that will alert you to changes on your credit. There are other services, such as CreditKarma and ClearScore that offer free services to update you about changes. The latter might not be as effective as theres often some delay on the data provided. Something is better than nothing though. This way you’ll get an email when there’s a new search. If we have applied for a mortgage for you recently you can check to see if the alert and the lender we’ve been discussing matches and alert us and the credit agencies/lender if not.
You can also freeze your credit account directly with the agencies, so in order to be able to run any kind of search you’ll need to log in yourself and unlock the account. If you are borrowing actively this might be restrictive, but if you expect to not require credit for an extended period, such as working outside the country for some time, then this can ensure you are not at risk.
We prevent identity theft by ensuring any customer we haven’t met face to face passes a stringent identification process involving asking questions about recent credit activity, e.g what was your last phone bill, how long have you had your credit card and which of the following do you currently have. We also expect clients to provide a face pic along side a passport or driving license to ensure that the person we are speaking to is really you.

Land Registry Fraud

Land registry fraud is a shockingly damaging form of fraud, and whilst not as common as the issues above does still happen. Essentially where a scammer has managed to obtain sufficient data about you, and can forge your identity sufficiently they can actually register your property, even if you reside there, without you knowing. They can then sell the property or finance it and there is little you can do about this once it happens. Again this is very easy to prevent and we encourage everyone buying property to do this. Land registry, much like the credit agencies above will notify you of any changes to your property registration. If you are not buying or selling and you get an alert then you can contact them immediately and stop anything from taking place. You can register property here: HM Land Registry – Property Alert

Don’t forget that all of the above depends on your email being secure. Most of the scams involve gaining access to your emails or social accounts so they can scam you about something that you are expecting to happen. Having a robust password system, using 2 factor authentication and being suspicious about incoming mail and calls can make all the difference.