Liverpool fc football fraud - Be careful
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 11:59 amJust seen this and felt it deserved a post.
Football fans on red alert
Fraudsters are targeting football fans in the latest money scam. We reveal all and look at 10 frauds that can hit your wallet hard – and show you how to guard against them
The latest email scam is targeting football fans. Spam emails claiming to be from Liverpool Football Club are in circulation promising fans a £500,000 share of a £20m windfall. All the recipient has to do to claim the ‘prize’ is reply with their personal details.
The spam emails are, of course, a hoax – the club has issued a statement warning fans against them. The aim of the scam is to trick people into handing over their bank details – which are then used to steal money from their bank accounts or commit further frauds.
The message from online security experts is that if any offer looks too good to be true, it probably is. “This scam is using the name of one of the world’s greatest football clubs in an attempt to steal people’s money and identities,” says Graham Cluley of UK security firm Sophos. “Users who fall for this trick risk handing their confidential details into the hands of fraudsters.”
Scams on the rise
The ‘Liverpool fraud’ is just the latest scam to target us in the run-up to Christmas. The introduction of Chip and PIN technology has helped authorities clamp down on more traditional types of card fraud – but it’s driven criminals on to the Internet and the phone instead.
Total card fraud losses have fallen 13% this year, according to figures from banking watchdog the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS). But figures show that the number of phone, web and mail order frauds is up by nearly 30%.
Official figures estimate that scams, including bogus prize draws and premium-rate phone scams, cost us a staggering £1bn every year – and the cost is set to rise further. To help protect the public, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has made targeting scams a priority for the next three years with the launch of its Scams Enforcement Group (SEG).
Football fans on red alert
Fraudsters are targeting football fans in the latest money scam. We reveal all and look at 10 frauds that can hit your wallet hard – and show you how to guard against them
The latest email scam is targeting football fans. Spam emails claiming to be from Liverpool Football Club are in circulation promising fans a £500,000 share of a £20m windfall. All the recipient has to do to claim the ‘prize’ is reply with their personal details.
The spam emails are, of course, a hoax – the club has issued a statement warning fans against them. The aim of the scam is to trick people into handing over their bank details – which are then used to steal money from their bank accounts or commit further frauds.
The message from online security experts is that if any offer looks too good to be true, it probably is. “This scam is using the name of one of the world’s greatest football clubs in an attempt to steal people’s money and identities,” says Graham Cluley of UK security firm Sophos. “Users who fall for this trick risk handing their confidential details into the hands of fraudsters.”
Scams on the rise
The ‘Liverpool fraud’ is just the latest scam to target us in the run-up to Christmas. The introduction of Chip and PIN technology has helped authorities clamp down on more traditional types of card fraud – but it’s driven criminals on to the Internet and the phone instead.
Total card fraud losses have fallen 13% this year, according to figures from banking watchdog the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS). But figures show that the number of phone, web and mail order frauds is up by nearly 30%.
Official figures estimate that scams, including bogus prize draws and premium-rate phone scams, cost us a staggering £1bn every year – and the cost is set to rise further. To help protect the public, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has made targeting scams a priority for the next three years with the launch of its Scams Enforcement Group (SEG).
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