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Author Topic: Report e-mail scams, National Fraud Authority urges  (Read 3309 times)

AdrianH

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Report e-mail scams, National Fraud Authority urges
« on: February 26, 2011, 02:40:13 PM »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12586742

Quote
Millions of Britons who receive scam letters and e-mails are now being urged to forward them on just the once - to the National Fraud Authority.

The agency has launched a new operation to track down the fraudsters behind the multi-million pound industry in scam mail, but needs public input.

It wants people to forward e-mails to email@actionfraud.org.uk for analysis.

Chief executive Dr Bernard Herdan said doing so would give "unprecedented" information about criminal activity.

"Both in terms of collecting lots of fraudulent e-mails and letters, and getting those e-mails sent to our website that we can send on to the police, that has not been possible before........... (more)

Your chance to strike back at the silly b's that send out all that detritus.  8)
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roseway

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Re: Report e-mail scams, National Fraud Authority urges
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2011, 03:13:31 PM »

I wasn't sure who the National Fraud Authority are, but they come under the Attorney General's office, so they are genuine. This sounds like a very good move. Thanks for the pointer Adrian.
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  Eric

BritBrat

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Re: Report e-mail scams, National Fraud Authority urges
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2011, 05:14:58 PM »

How long before their site crashes :)

Quote
People receiving scam emails are urged to forward them on to email@actionfraud.org.uk.

Important: When you send an email you are doing so over the open internet, which we cannot guarantee the security of. Therefore please do not send personal information, such as your address or bank account details, when emailing Action Fraud.

Please note: Once you have forwarded your scam mail, you do not need to contact us again and you will not hear from us.

The emails received by Action Fraud will be forwarded to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau run by the City of London Police for collation and analysis. This will enable crucial intelligence to be gathered and preventative action to be taken. The activity will seek to disrupt the fraudsters and close down the links between them and the victim.

Dr Bernard Herdan, CEO of the National Fraud Authority who runs Action Fraud, said: ‘This is the first time we have been able to collect and analyse scam mail and emails in this way. Collecting intelligence is the key to us being able to disrupt the activities of fraudsters and target their networks for closure.’

What should you do if you’ve received a scam email?

Do not click on any links in the scam email.
Do not reply to the email or contact the senders in any way.
If you have clicked on a link in the email, do not supply any information on the website that may open.
Do not open any attachments that arrive with the email.

Visit the Action Fraud website where there is information on how to forward on your scam mail. When you send an email you are doing so over the open internet, which we cannot guarantee the security of. Therefore please do not send personal information, such as your address or bank account details, when emailing Action Fraud.

If you think you may have compromised the safety of your bank details and/or have lost money due to fraudulent misuse of your cards, you should immediately contact your bank.

If you've been a victim of fraud, report it to Action Fraud.

Fake emails often (but not always) display some of the following characteristics:

the sender’s email address doesn’t tally with the trusted organisation’s website address
the email is sent from a completely different address or a free web mail address
the email does not use your proper name, but uses a non-specific greeting like “dear customer”
a sense of urgency; for example the threat that unless you act immediately your account may be closed
a prominent website link. These can be forged or seem very similar to the proper address, but even a single character’s difference means a different website
a request for personal information such as user name, password or bank details
the email contains spelling and grammatical errors
you weren't expecting to get an email from the company that appears to have sent it
the entire text of the email is contained within an image rather than the usual text format
the image contains an embedded hyperlink to a bogus site

Notes to editors:

The National Fraud Authority released its Annual Fraud Indicator last month (January) which put fraud against the individual at £4 billion.  This figure consists mainly of mass marketing fraud, which includes romance fraud.

February is Scams Awareness Month.  For more information on the activities that have been taking place visit www.oft.gov.uk or www.actionfraud.org.uk
The reports made to Action Fraud of mass marketing frauds are sent to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB), based at City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud.  The NFIB analyses this information, searching for patterns and similarities between reports, which come from across the country.  Intelligence packages are formed from the data and sent to relevant law enforcement agencies such as the police and Serious Organised Crime Agency
For more information please contact Sarah Mackie, NFA on 020 3356 1032 or Sarah.Mackie@attorneygeneral.gsi.gov.uk


« Last Edit: February 26, 2011, 05:22:45 PM by BritBrat »
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sevenlayermuddle

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Re: Report e-mail scams, National Fraud Authority urges
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2011, 05:44:42 PM »

Nice idea but once it's had a bit of publicity and gained 'respectability' in people's minds, I suspect we'll start seeing a proliferation of scam emails, trojans and the rest of it, all with a 'reply to' address of this 'National Fraud Authority'. 

Since it's a real organisation with an interest in online security, and it could be expected to conduct business by email, the chances of people opening  their emails and clicking on the links that they contain would be quite high, and so use of their address would have great appeal to spammers scammers and the other toe rags.

Just my pessimistic ha'pence worth. :(

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