Coincidentally timed email scam

[paulrbarnard]

I just received an email from GOVUK-DVLA telling me my tax payment has failed. It's almost well done but has too many flaws that point it out as a scam. I though it interesting that I received it this morning as I SORNed my Defender yesterday and the tax renewal was the end of this month. The defender has not been getting much use lately and it needs a bit of work before the MOT.
I'm sure it was just a coincidence that I received this scan at the appropriate time to give it plausiblity. I'm sure the email would have been far more professional if the perpetrators had the where with all to get tax expiry information from gov.uk and then tie the owner details to email addresses with similar name.

 

[Jelly]

I had a similar scam come to me when I SORN-ed my Mondeo online, and one which came to me regarding Tax Rebates after I went on the HMRC website to look something up.

It's conceivable that someone has worked out how to use information from tracking cookies to link up with telephone numbers they obtained elsewhere, so they can target their scams at people clicking through to the .gov.uk site because their guard will be lower.

It's also conceivable that all three instances are coincidental, given that phishing seems to be ever more prevalent.

 

[Roland]

So you’ve not had the one about an arrest warrant being issued for non-payment of tax/child support

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've had four this week by phone, three allegedly from Amazon and one BT.

 

[dzj]

I've had one telling me my PayPal account has been suspended.
I just have to click here and log in with my username and password to make things right.

 

[Sachakins]

Maybe consider doing a deep virus check on your computer for any dubious software.
I would do the scan offline, just to be more secure.

 

[niemeyjt]

Remember the web server might also be compromised - as it was in the One+ and BA cases.

As for DVLA, anyone can see when a vehicle's tax is due and the DVLA will flog off owner details - so maybe a parking company or similar has been compromised?

 

[Owd Jockey]

Look, if you keep your AV software up to date and use good Malware software, refrain from visiting certain 'Adult' sites and do not share your password with anyone, the chances of your PC/Laptop becoming infected is very low.

The biggest danger is falling for one the many online scams. I've commented on this before on a similar thread and offered some advice. This scum predominantly operates out of Kolkata (prev. Calcutta) in India, they operate in the open and without fear of arrest or prosecution as information passed to the local Police is ignored. This scum basically play the numbers game, by using software to send either realistically looking emails to millions of email recipients warning of impending curtailment of services or fines or even imprisonment. If you dispatch millions then you will get a sizeable proportion who will fall for this scam. They use fear, intimidation and bullying to extract money from vulnerable and perhaps naive people. They are not particularly clever, but are merciless in their goal of stealing your money. They target the large English speaking countries of the UK and USA.

Many online 'hacking' groups target this scam call centres, but there is one chap called Jim Browning from Northern Ireland who has lead a one-man crusade against this scum. Jim is technically very clever and is able to find out the names of these thieves and where they operate from, he has downloaded all the files of their computers effectively disrupting and sometimes shutting down their operation. Sometimes he has intervened in an ongoing fraud in real-time warning the victim of what was happening. When you watch and listen to his videos of scams it will make you angry, as the majority of the victims are elderly. You can sense and feel the anxiety in their voices as the scammers weave their web of lies. Browning has done quite a few Youtube videos but only have to watch a couple to understand how this scum operate.

I think the message for all of us is to be suspicious of any email/online warning message or phone call and not act before you spoken to someone else or done an online search yourself. Suspicion is the key word here and everyone should let their friends and family know that these bogus messages are merely a means to steal their money.

Browning's Youtube channel is here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBNG0osIBAprVcZZ3ic84vw