Our number one tip to avoid becoming a victim, is to slow down and give yourself time to think.
If you’re not sure, don’t be rushed. Hang up the phone, delete the text and don’t click on the link in the email. You can always re-contact the company via a tried and trusted method.
To help protect you and your family this Christmas, our real people have been hard at work compiling a list of 12 potential frauds or scams to look out for over the festive period.
We’ve re-imagined the Christmas rhyme that many of you will recognise, creating a timely fraud reminder whenever you hear the original over the festive period. It’s a light-hearted take, but with a very serious message.
Something not quite right there? Be aware of spelling errors in unsolicited emails and texts. While an occasional error can occur legitimately, they can also be a sign that something is amiss.
The Cumberland won’t ever ask for a one-time passcode to cancel a transaction or authorise a refund.
You should only receive a one-time-passcode to confirm a transaction that you have made. No one should ever ask for these codes otherwise, including The Cumberland. These codes authorise payments to leave your account so will never be used to get a refund or verify your identity.
Be vigilant around parking meters, ticket machines and ATMs. It’s easy for a fraudster to stick a fake QR code over the top of a real one. If you notice any tampering, don’t use the machine.
A scam that you might not have even considered involves QR codes and sometimes takes place at car parks. People are often in a hurry when paying for parking and the use of a QR code to pay seems like a quick and easy option. Scammers have been known to place a sticker over the genuine information which leads people to enter their card details, and quite often a One Time Passcode, that signs them up to a random subscription. It is also possible that the victim could suffer a parking fine.
At The Cumberland, as a One Time Passcode has been used, it will appear to us as though the customer has knowingly entered into a subscription. It’s only when we speak with them and they aren’t aware of the subscription, that the issue is raised and dealt with.
You should always be vigilant around ATM machines and any parking meters or facilities where you are paying or using a facility for a financial transaction. If something doesn’t look right then contact the owner of the facility and check with your bank so that they can monitor your account.
Don’t be rushed by unsolicited phone calls. Take your time and hang up if you’re not sure. You can always call the company back via a trusted channel. Even if it really is us calling, we certainly won’t mind.
Phone scams can be a particular threat to your personal data because the fraudster has the advantage of catching you off-guard. Always give yourself time to consider the nature of the call and don’t allow yourself to be rushed into a decision or action and be especially wary of calls that ask you to move money to a ‘safe account’ due to a security breach – The Cumberland would never ask you to do this.
Something that can easily be forgotten in the panic to check that everything is ok - if you end a call and then phone another organisation to check the validity of the previous call, you should wait 15 minutes to ensure the line is clear or use a completely different phone line, just to make sure that the original caller isn’t still on the line.
Always create unique, hard-to-guess passwords, and if using payment apps on your phone then do so with facial recognition/fingerprint biometrics to protect your devices.
You should always keep your passwords safe and never tell anyone (including Cumberland staff, family or friends).
Try not to use the same password for all of your online accounts as if the password becomes compromised on one system then it would be possible for a fraudster to access your other accounts too. Having the same password for multiple accounts would also mean that you would have to change your password on multiple different systems if one system was compromised.
There are password managers that are available which can make your life easier by holding all of your passwords in a secure location – you only need to remember the password that gets you into the service itself. Apple provide an app for the iPhone, while other providers such as Bitwarden and NordPass offer both free and subscription options. We would always advise you to carry out your own research before signing up and using such an application.
You should also protect your phone and/or Apple/Google Pay with facial recognition/fingerprint biometrics or passcodes that are known only to you.
Unfortunately police impersonation scams do occur. Police officers will never call you out of the blue and request cash or personal information. They’ll never ask you to transfer money to another account, hand over cash or bank cards to a courier, or pay a fine or fee over the phone.
Cumbria Constabulary ask members of the public to remember:
Fake sellers often advertise cheap concert tickets and hard-to-find goods, but once they’ve been paid, it’s easy for them to disappear. Be wary of ticket scams, or goods that are out-of-stock in stores but available for sale on social media. Be cautious if something appears too good to be true.
Social media marketplace scams are also on the rise and proving to be difficult for the platforms to manage. The fraud prevention team at The Cumberland have dealt with numerous cases where a customer has transferred or sent money for a purchase, only to be blocked by the seller on social media without receiving the item. It’s always worth doing your research on the seller, asking friends or trusted group users for references and if possible, not sending money in advance.
A topical example is the re-sale of tickets for popular concerts or events. Fake sellers can often be found advertising cheap tickets for sale and once they’ve received the money, it’s easy for them to disappear without ever sending the goods. Once again it’s better to be careful and do your research before handing over your details.
At this time of year scammers know that people will be ordering goods online and take advantage of this. Beware of fake delivery texts/emails asking for postage payments or redelivery.
This involves the person receiving a text or email asking to pay for postage or redelivery for an item. It can be a common scam on the run up to Christmas as most people now order online so the fraudster has a reasonable chance that you’ll be expecting a parcel delivery. These texts and emails are designed to get a customer’s card details. Usually this is followed up by a phone call pretending to be the customer’s bank and they are able to use the fact that they already have the card details to appear more legitimate.
Again the advice here is to give yourself time to think. If you are concerned that there may be a problem with your delivery, then contact the company that you purchased from or the delivery company directly if you know who they are. Many firms, such as Royal Mail, now have scam advice on their website.
Be wary of links that come in unsolicited texts/emails. If unsure, contact the company by another method or by a trusted, favourited link.
Spoof websites can be set up by fraudsters to imitate ours or other real websites – an unusual or incorrect web address can be a giveaway. If unsure, never click on a link that you’ve been sent, it’s safer to open up a web browser and type in the correct address yourself.
For The Cumberland, log on from cumberland.co.uk (or cumberland.co.uk/business for businesses).
You should be especially aware when shopping online or entering your details into a website, that the website is a legitimate one and only use secure websites with a padlock symbol which can be seen in the address bar.
One measure that may help is to be wary of links that come to you in unsolicited emails or text messages. If unsure, do not click on the link, instead type the correct website of the company into your internet browser manually. You can check an email sender by hovering over the sending details to see the true address – be wary of anything with a spelling error, lots of jumbled characters and numbers, or just any email address that doesn’t look like it’s associated with the company that apparently sent you the email.
If possible, when accessing sites for internet banking, use a favourited link that you know is safe and genuine, rather than searching for the website via a search engine, as your search may find imposter sites as well as real ones.
You shouldn’t give too much information away on social media, you never know who’s watching.
Each social media platform has its own privacy settings but they are worth negotiating as they allow you greater protection. Here are three things that you should definitely consider:
Don’t fall for messaging/text scams involving friends and family desperately seeking cash. Always check that the person in need is really who they say they are.
This type of fraud often plays on the heartstrings and relies once again on our fraudster’s favourite strategy – urgency.
They involve people being contacted by message or Whatsapp with a ‘hi mum/dad I’ve lost/broken my phone or lost my train ticket’ style message. The person then believes that they’re speaking to their child on a borrowed device and that the child needs instant help. When the person acts, usually by making a card payment, sending a Faster Payment or disclosing details to help them pay a bill, they are paying money or handing their details to the fraudster.
It’s annoying being constantly asked to update your anti-virus software or operating system but these often contain crucial security updates. A few seconds now could save you from being scammed later.
As a Cumberland customer, if you suspect that you’ve been a victim of fraud then please call us on 01228 403141 (Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm and Saturday 8.30am to 4pm) or visit your local branch as soon as possible to discuss how we can help. If your call is out-of-hours then please leave a voicemail explaining the problem and leaving your name and contact number.
You can also report Fraud and Cyber Crime via the national Action Fraud website which has lots of information.
To view all of the content we have online around Fraud and Scams, including our pages on Business Fraud, App Fraud, and further useful links, visit our Fraud Protection homepage.