Regular scams, revisited.

Posted on: 29 September 2016
By: wolfeg
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Filed under: Uncategorized

This month, after taking a break from his blog last month, Graeme Wolfe, our Information and IT Security Officer, takes a further look at the scams that continue to pop up at regular intervals.

Last year I published the blog post ‘Scam merry go round‘ and it would appear that we have saddled up our horses and are back on the scam merry-go-round again.

I was advised by the Student Union Financial Advisors of a scam that told students they could apply for a grant. When they clicked on the link, guess what they were asked for? All their financial and personal details of course. Just what any cyber-criminal would want to help them empty your bank account or steal your identity.

Recently, there was a programme on BBC ‘Inside Out – London’ which identified criminal gangs who used international student’s bank accounts to launder their money. Although it is not directly a scam, it is illegal, and can also leave those students open to scams and fraud in the future.

I’m sure that this won’t be the last of such attempts to defraud students and staff of their money and identity, so be cautious if someone is asking you for those details and check your accounts regularly for unusual activity.

Just like the ‘419’ scams, do you really think that someone in a foreign country has specifically selected you to help them move millions of pounds or dollars around? Only to send you a badly worded email from a generic email account offering you the chance of a lifetime – in exchange for your personal financial data of course.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Graeme Wolfe

IT Security Officer

13/09/2016