Scam Share

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In this edition of Scam Share we'll look at some of the most recent scams which have been reported by consumers across Scotland, including those related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

An opinion poll conducted by the Open Knowledge Foundation this week discovered that 51% of those surveyed had seen false information being circulated on social media about the COVID-19 outbreak, including claims that the virus is linked to 5G phone masts.
The UK Government have a SHARE checklist to help users recognise and avoid sharing misleading information on social media. Find trusted sources of information at the end of this bulletin or on our website.

Stay safe while online at home and report all scams to Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000.

Travel Cancellations

Almost half of all of the complaints by Scottish consumers last week linked to COVID-19 were related to travel and accommodation.

The Association for British Travel Agents (ABTA) has published advice for customers whose holiday bookings have been affected by the pandemic, which includes information about Refund Credit Notes (RCNs).

Refund Credit Notes

As illustrated in the graphic below, an RCN offered by your travel provider will be financially protected by the same scheme (e.g. ATOL or ABTA) which covered your original booking. It allows you to rebook your holiday at a later date and entitles you to a cash refund at the expiry date of the note.
An RCN should include the following information:

An expiry date (your money will be protected until this date)
A value equal to the amount you paid for the original booking (unless your provider has offered a partial cash refund)
Original booking details/reference

RCNs are different from holiday vouchers - holiday vouchers are not financially protected.

If you are in financial difficulty and need a cash refund, your holiday provider may be able to prioritise your case - you should contact them in the first instance to discuss your options.

The following official sources of information will reflect the most recent guidance and advice on travel/accommodation:

Official Advice on Travel/Accommodation

ABTA has published further guidance for industry members and customers on holiday amendments and refunds. Their website also includes advice for customers on travelling.
Advice Direct Scotland are regularly updating the information on their COVID-19 consumer website with advice and guidance for Scottish consumers on travel restrictions, flight and holiday cancellations and information for citizens who are stranded abroad.
The EU Commission has released interpretive guidelines on passenger rights.
The UK Government has official guidance for citizens travelling overseas and foreign travel advice by country.
Following a large number of complaints about Ryanair, the CTSI has advised consumers to contact the UK European Consumer Centre by email for advice about obtaining refunds from the company

Cancellation Rights

Due to the number of complaints received about weddings, private events, holiday accommodation, nurseries and childcare, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has established a COVID-19 taskforce to investigating businesses who are not respecting cancellation rights.

Issues raised by consumers include being pressured to accept vouchers instead of a cash refund, which may not be financially protected, venues refusing to provide any refund or companies asking people to make a claim on their insurance in order to recover their money.

Find out more on the CMA website or watch the CMA's director of consumer protection, George Lusty, discuss consumer rights and the action you can take to obtain refunds with Martin Lewis in this video.

Consumers can also use the CMA's online reporting tool to report a business they believe is behaving unfairly during the COVID-19 outbreak. You can report:

Unfair prices for goods or services
Unfair prices for business-to-business sales
Misleading claims made by a business about goods or services
Problems with the cancellation, refund or exchange of products or services
Other unfair behaviour

Doorstep Scams

Communities in Fife have been urged to be wary of cold callers who have been visiting households, claiming to be council workers and offering to disinfect their doorbells.

Despite the lockdown, doorstep scammers are still active in communities across Scotland. In addition to scams related to COVID-19 such as offering to disinfect driveways or posing as charity workers and NHS staff, more traditional doorstep scams are continuing.

If you need to call a trader for emergency repair work during the quarantine, find someone who has been vetted and approved through a national or local authority trusted trader scheme.

General Advice for Avoiding Doorstep Scams

Remember - you are not being rude if you shut the door on unsolicited callers.
Don't agree to make any payments for goods or services offered by cold callers.
If you feel feel uncomfortable or suspicious, call Police Scotland on 101. If you feel threatened or unsafe at any time, call 999.
Report rogue traders to Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000 or through their website
Sign up for Neighbourhood Watch Alerts to stay up to date with what is going on in your community. Keep an eye on vulnerable neighbours.
Get more advice on our website

Zoom Scam

The Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC) this week flagged up new phishing emails linked to Zoom, the popular web conferencing tool. These emails were uncovered by threat researchers at Sophos Labs.
Scammers are sending emails which appear to be from work colleagues, inviting you to an important meeting or conference. The invitation link takes you to a clone of the real Zoom website, where you will be asked for your email password.
If you are invited to join a Zoom call, you should not need to enter your password.

What to Do

Check the domain name on any website before entering personal details. The real Zoom domain name is "zoom.us" and it will have a valid security certificate when you click on the padlock to the left of the address bar.
Check the spelling and grammar in the message. Fake emails often contain small mistakes and unusual wording.
Double check with the person who has supposedly sent the message using an email address or phone number that you know to be accurate.
Report scam emails to Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000 or through their website.

Find guidance and factsheets to help you use Zoom and other video conferencing software safely on the SRBC website.

Fake Medical Products

The Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) have launched a new website to allow the public to report any suspected side effects from medicines or medical products relating to COVID-19 treatment.

They have also investigated an increasing number of bogus medical products being sold through unauthorised websites claiming to treat or prevent COVID-19.

At this time, there are currently no medicines licensed specifically for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19. Any products or cures advertised may be fake and potentially dangerous.

There are currently no CE-marked testing kits for COVID-19 which have been approved for home use. Any tests advertised for home use may endanger your own and other people's health by providing a false positive. Find out more on the Government's website.

What to Do

Use the Vistalworks checker to check the legitimacy of products on Ebay before you buy them. It is also available as a Chrome browser plugin, which will trigger a warning on any suspicious Ebay products or sellers.
Find out about buying medical products safely online through the MHRA's 'Fake Meds' campaign
Report suspicious products, such as treatment kits or homemade hand sanitiser, to Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000

Phone Scams: Solar Panels

There have been recent reports from Scottish Consumers of nuisance calls from companies offering solar panel servicing.

Customers who already have solar panels are being mis-sold warranties, repairs or upgrades for solar inverters. They are wrongly told that they need to replace or upgrade their inverters by salespeople who take advantage of a lack of understanding about what inverters actually do.

Customers are also being mis-sold PV+ solar panel booster boxes, being told that they will provide a large increase in the amount of electricity generated through the panels. In fact, the maximum potential saving achieved through many of these boxes when they are properly fitted is 5%. Many boxes are fitted incorrectly by rogue traders and so don’t deliver any savings at all.

What to Do

If a cold caller tells you that your solar panels need to be services or that you need a new inverter, double check with the manufacturer first.
Get trusted advice about solar panels and inverters from Home Energy Scotland.
Report nuisance calls to Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000 or through their website.

Find more information about solar inverters in our 'Solar Scams' PDF or on our website.

PayPal Scam

Scottish consumers have recently received scam text messages and emails which appears to be from PayPal. The following text was reported to Neighbourhood Watch Scotland through their Alert system:

"Your account has been restricted due to a failed payment. Please login at ...to remove any pending restrictions."

By clicking on the link provided in the email, you could be taken to a legitimate-looking website with PayPal branding, which will ask you to enter personal details and your password.

PayPal have published advice about avoiding scam emails and texts which appear to be from them. Any genuine communication will lead to their website: https://www.paypal.com/uk

Counterfeit Goods online

Vistalworks have warned that, as people have been turning to home fitness during lockdown, there could be an increase in the sales of counterfeit sportswear online.
They have also published a blog about the dangers of using counterfeit hair dyes, at a time when several popular shades are sold out in supermarkets due to increased demand.

Use the Vistalworks checker to check the legitimacy of products on Ebay before you buy them. It is also available as a Chrome browser plugin, which will trigger a warning on any suspicious Ebay products or sellers.

Report counterfeit goods online to Advice Direct Scotland.

Bank Mandate Fraud

Businesses, charities and individuals should be wary of fraudulent emails which appear to be from trusted suppliers or companies advising that their bank account details have changed. The recipient is asked to make changes to a direct debit, standing order or bank transfer mandate in order to direct future payments to a new bank account, which is often run by fraudsters.

These requests often appear legitimate – as well as emails, fraudsters can send genuine-looking letters or make phone calls impersonating a genuine supplier.

The Government Counter Fraud Function has published advice on recognising and dealing with mandate fraud during the COVID-19 outbreak. Read the advice here.

What to Do

Be suspicious of unexpected requests to change payment details or to provide your personal or company bank details: if in doubt, get a second opinion from a colleague or manager
Confirm requests for changes to payment details with the person or company who has supposedly sent them, using contact information that you know to be correct.
Check bank statements regularly and report any suspicious transactions immediately to your bank.
Report bank mandate crimes to Police Scotland on 101.

Sextortion Scams

Police Scotland are warning about recent 'sextortion' scam emails which have been sent to people across Scotland. The email recipient is told that the sender has footage of them watching adult content online and that this footage will be published unless they send the fraudsters a payment in Bitcoin. One Scottish consumer recently reported an email to which threatened to send an incriminating video of them to everyone on their mailing list unless they sent a Bitcoin payment. According to the recipient, the sender used a 'normal-sounding' name to try to make the email seem genuine.

Find out more from Police Scotland and report any similar emails to the Police by calling 101.

Stay Safe Online

Consumers across Scotland are being bombarded with increasingly sophisticated email and cyber scams as they work, socialise and educate their children online.
Get Safe Online have launched a Safe Email campaign, with top tips for using email securely.

Useful Guidance for Staying Safe Online

The National Cyber Security Centre's Cyber Aware campaign offers advice to the public on staying safe online - suspicious emails can be forwarded to their Suspicious Email Reporting Service.

The NCSC has also published guidance to help families and individuals safely use video conferencing services.

Electrical Safety First have published guidance on working safely at home. Remember that 98% of counterfeit chargers do not conform to UK safety standards and could cause a fire or electric shock. Use the Vistalworks checker to make sure that electrical products purchased online are genuine.

ScamShare Signposts: Business

Each week we will signpost key messages relating to different types of scam which are prevalent across Scotland. This week, we have highlighted 5 points relating to business fraud:

Question unexpected emails which request private business information or payments, even if they appear to come from someone within your company
Think about what you are being asked to do – if in doubt about financial transactions or changes to Direct Debits get a second opinion from a colleague or manager
Be cautious when working from home if you receive cold calls offering tech support for your IT system. Only deal with your official IT support desk, if you have one
Confirm requests for payment or sensitive information with the person or company who has supposedly sent them, using contact information that you know to be correct
Remember that scam emails and texts can look genuine and can appear to come from Government agencies, people within your organisation and trusted companies.

Useful Guidance for Businesses

The NCSC has published security guidance to help organisations choose, configure and safely use video conferencing services.

The Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC) have a variety of resources to support and protect Scottish businesses, including:

Guidance on using Zoom for business and video conferencing basics
Recordings of webinars on subjects such as counterfeit goods and cyber scams

Business Gateway have advice and a range of useful resources to help you keep your business safe online.

Find guidance on accessing support for the newly self-employed and firms suffering hardship from the Scottish Government.

Illegal Money Lending

Loans from illegal money lenders end up costing on average three times as much as a legal loan, with some charging interest rates of as much as 120,000%. If you are in a financially desperate situation because of #COVID19, or if you work with vulnerable people and suspect that they may have borrowed money from a loan shark, the Scottish Illegal Money Lending Unit can provide advice and support.
Their free and confidential 24-hour hotline will remain open 7 days a week throughout the lockdown period - call 0800 074 0878 or fill out their online reporting form.

Find links to organisations that can help through their webpage.

Official Contacts

If you feel threatened or unsafe, contact Police Scotland on 101 or 999 in an emergency.
Report scams to Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000.
Sign up to the Neighbourhood Watch Alert system to receive localised information and updates.

Get genuine information and updates about the COVID-19 pandemic from official websites:

Scottish Government - Coronavirus in Scotland
NHS Scotland - Coronavirus information and advice
UK Government - Response to Coronavirus
World Health Organisation (WHO) - Technical Guidance

Find a full list of community links and trusted information sources on our website.