Tag • #scams

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‘I couldn’t sleep’: victims of UK fraud epidemic tell their story

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 06:00

With banks set to slash the maximum refund, those who fell prey to scammers recount their trauma … and relief at full repayment

“I couldn’t sleep. I was waking constantly thinking about it,” says Stephen of the trauma he felt after discovering he had been scammed out of £70,000 by fraudsters who tricked him into buying a fake high-interest savings bond.

“I felt stupid – as a former solicitor, I thought: what was I thinking? But at the same time it was sophisticated.”

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Why is the UK slashing the maximum banks must refund to fraud victims?

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 3 days ago - 14:04

Consumer groups hit out at regulator’s ‘outrageous’ decision to cut limit from £415,000 to £85,000

Consumer groups have attacked a regulator’s decision to slash the planned maximum amount that banks will have to refund to UK fraud victims from £415,000 to £85,000. One said it meant some people were set to have their lives “destroyed”.

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) confirmed on Wednesday reports from the previous evening that it was launching a consultation to reduce the threshold, which is due to come in on 7 October, despite having previously said that a maximum of £85,000 was “too low” as it would “exclude a significant number of victims”.

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UK reportedly poised to slash amount banks must refund to fraud victims

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 4 days ago - 18:40

Regulator said to be planning cut to maximum amount available to victims from £415,000 to about £85,000

The UK is reportedly poised to slash the planned maximum amount that banks will have to refund to fraud victims from £415,000 to about £85,000 after strong lobbying from lenders, fintechs and some politicians.

Fraud in the UK payments industry has soared in recent years, with a sharp rise in authorised push payment (APP) scams, which often involve email accounts being hacked to trick people into sending money to bank accounts operated by criminals. Measures were announced last year requiring banks and payment firms to reimburse those scammed.

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O2 sent me a £150 phone bill for a call – after just one ring

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 20 August - 06:00

The network says I’m victim of a ‘Wangiri scam’ but I was in bed at 5am with my mobile nearby

Recently I discovered that O2 has billed me £150 for a mobile phone call it says I made to Armenia at 5am on 25 June.

As I was safely tucked up in bed at home, with my phone nearby, there was no way I could have made that call.

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UK motorists warned of fake parking QR codes being used in ‘quishing’ scams

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Thursday, 15 August - 06:00

Councils warn misleading codes may lead drivers to fraudulent websites where personal data is stolen

Motorists have been urged not to scan QR codes to pay for their parking after a spate of scams that take advantage of the move to mobile payments.

The RAC said drivers should be “very vigilant” and pay for their parking with cash, card or via official apps, rather than using a QR code that takes them to a website.

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Scammers target Jay Slater funeral offering fake paid live stream

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Thursday, 8 August - 11:00

Charity helping family of Lancashire teenager who died in Tenerife ‘inundated’ with reports of scams

Online scammers have targeted Jay Slater’s funeral, offering access to a fake live stream of the event in exchange for money, likes and follows.

There is no live stream of Saturday’s funeral of the 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, in Lancashire, who is believed to have fallen to his death after getting lost in a mountainous area of Tenerife on 17 June.

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I’ve been scammed, you’ve been scammed – and it’s about to get much worse | Arwa Mahdawi

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 31 July - 10:00

Forget the stereotype about tech-troubled grandparents: anyone can be fooled. And as AI gets more sophisticated, staying one step ahead will only get harder

Once upon a time, rather a long while ago, there was a bright-eyed, dim-brained twentysomething called Arwa Mahdawi. Young Arwa had recently arrived in New York City and was searching for that most elusive of beasts: an affordable place to live that was convenient, chic and didn’t involve sharing a bathroom with a psychopath. On her budget, this was impossible.

Then, one day, the Craigslist gods smiled down upon her and she found a unicorn: a reasonably priced room (by Manhattan standards) in a sprawling, stylish loft in Chelsea. The housemates were a gay fiftysomething photographer and his dog. The photographer seemed eccentric, sure, but in an artsy New York way, not in a stroke-you-while-you-are-sleeping way. He had photographed big celebrities; he seemed legit. Arwa handed over a $2,000 deposit and counted down the days until she could move in and start her life as a gay Palestinian Carrie Bradshaw.

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Ofcom clamps down on millions of scam ‘spoofed number’ calls from abroad

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Monday, 29 July - 11:42

Regulator gives phone companies six months to identify and block calls that falsely display a UK number

Business live – latest updates

Millions more scam calls from abroad which use spoofed UK landline numbers are to be blocked after the telecoms regulator finally ordered a long-overdue clampdown.

From Monday a ll phone companies will have six months to identify and block calls from abroad that falsely display a UK telephone number under strengthened guidance from Ofcom.

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Uber Eats has failed to deliver after a £19,000 fraud

news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 17 July - 06:00

Our pizzeria takings were diverted to a rogue account but it is refusing a refund

I run a high street pizzeria with my wife and have been the victim of a significant fraud through the Uber Eats delivery platform, with £19,000 of our takings diverted to a rogue account.

I tried to sort this out through the company’s customer service but have encountered nothing but frustration and incompetence.