BELOW IS SOME INFORMATION RECEIVED FROM WATCH SCHEME COORDINATORS AND THEIR MEMBERS RE SCAMS There has been a report of a number of computers being hacked . To avoid being hacked, don’t open any emails or links within emails that you aren’t sure about. This is how the ‘hackers’ manage to get into peoples’ computers and cause mayhem. In addition, always go to a reputable computer business or IT technician if you need to have your computer fixed -- don’t use someone who just happens to phone you up offering their services to go into your computer ‘remotely’ to fix any problems. Have you received phone calls from organisations recommending that you phone them back to verify that they are from a legitimate organisation/company? If so, don’t call them back immediately. The reason for this is that even phoning back will not guarantee that you will be talking to the organisation intended. You may think you are phoning the organisation but you may still be connected to the scammer. What happens is that at the conclusion of the first call, you would put the phone down, then you’d pick up the telephone and dial out again. BUT you can still be connected for periods from 5 to 25 seconds to the caller, the connection periods depend on your phone supplier -to avoid being scammed, wait at least 5 minutes before phoning out again. (Still be on your guard though -- if its a bank asking for your card details and password NEVER give these out on the phone; legitimate banks would never ask for these details over the phone.) A spam email has been sent out to a number of email addresses informing recipients about a cancer diagnosis. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (‘NICE’) is advising people who have received the email - the subject line of which is ‘important blood analysis result’ - to delete it without opening it and not to click on any links. NICE is currently investigating the origins of the message. Sir Andrew Dillon, NICE Chief Executive announced: “A spam email purporting to come from NICE is being sent to members of the public regarding cancer test results. This email is likely to cause distress to recipients since it advises that ‘test results indicate they may have cancer. This malicious email is not from NICE and we are currently investigating its origin. We take this matter very seriously and have reported it to the police.” Updates will be made on the website during the day and also via Twitter: @NICEComms. Note: As of today, 18th March, 2014, NICE is still investigating the above scam. PLEASE SHARE
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 19:42:57 +0000