£11.1 million scammed from Greater Manchester victims Date published: 01 February 2021
Photo: Piotr Pawinski - stock.adobe.com
The ongoing pandemic means many are currently worried about their finances and therefore potentially more susceptible to these sophisticated scams promising to offer a great return on investment
Over £11m has been scammed from people in Greater Manchester over the past year.
Greater Manchester has seen 685 reports of investment fraud over the past year (December 2019–December 2020), resulting in loss to victims of £11.1 million.
As a result, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is supporting a national campaign, led by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Action Fraud and the City of London Police, which aims to warn and protect the public from the rise in investment fraud scams across the UK.
“Again, this looks very convincing and could easily be mistaken for a genuine NHS email. “Do not click the link as it takes the recipient to a malicious website that steals personal details. “These details are then used by the criminals to access other personal accounts.”
An example of the scam email being sent out Essex Trading Standards has reminded people the Covid vaccine is free and no payment is required. It added: “Beware of this fake Covid-19 vaccination email. “It purports to be from the NHS, inviting you for your vaccination. “We can confirm it is a scam and the links take you to a website that asks for financial details to pay for the vaccine.”
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Also, the alleged prizes on offer seem dubious. One of the alleged prizes is an iPhone X – a smartphone released back in 2017 and discontinued by Apple the following year after the launch of the iPhone Xs.
If Sainsbury s were running such an offer then surely a more recent Apple phone would be available as a prize?
But arguably the biggest giveaway of all is the alleged Sainsbury s gift card that customers could win. Loaded onto this gift card is allegedly $1,000 of credit - but Sainsbury s is a British retailer so any gift cards would be in pounds not US dollars.