Mumsnet users share their thoughts and experiences of financial fraud with Take Five

[JustineBMumsnet]

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Finding out that you’ve been a victim of a financial scam or fraud is never an easy thing to deal with. They can occur through varying methods such as via phone, email, text and/or post. With that being said Take Five want you to share your and/or your friends and family’s experiences of fraud or scams.

Here is what Take Five have to say: “Our research shows that many people do not feel confident that they could identify a fraudulent approach. Therefore the event will aim to empower and inspire parents to feel better prepared to ‘confidently challenge’ fraudsters, and recognise signs of fraud - remembering the mantra – My Money? My Info? I don’t think so."

Do you have an internal siren that goes off when you feel like something is a scam? Perhaps you’ve been scammed before and now know the best course of action to take? Or maybe you helped stop a family member from giving their bank details to someone you didn’t feel was genuine?

Whatever you or your family’s experiences of financial frauds and/or scams, write them on the thread below to be entered into a prize draw where one lucky MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

I always read, double read and even triple read if I am in doubt about anything. I also get my OH's opinion if I'm still not sure. I look at email addresses, email headers, the style of writing, language, links, what they are asking me to do, information I'm being asked to supply.....I am quite a suspicious person I suppose!

In terms of online scams I think I've been relatively lucky. I was once approached by someone on eBay saying that the first bidder for an item I was bidding on couldn't pay and did I want the item, then to send the money via Western Union - something didn't seem quite right, so I contacted eBay and they confirmed that it was a scam. Lucky escape.

I never click on any emails from BT as there are so many fraudulent ones, I'm forever forwarding them to their fraud section which is what they've told me to do.

Letter saying you have won something but want you to send them money to release your prize are a definite no no, also these days I receive many emails that are allegedly from my bank, paypal or any other type of account that a person may hold online asking to click their link as they need to update your account, this is also very much a scam and people need to beware!

I get emails from the likes of Amazon & Ebay telling me I need to change my password, I always check the address of the sender and never click on the links in the email :)

I've had Paypal and my bank card used fraudulently in the past and have always had the money returned straight away as I check these things regularly, luckily. There's a Paypal scam that sends you an email trying to get you to click a link and give them your paypal details. I've never been caught by it but it does look very good so I'm constantly making people aware about that one. Also a few people I know have been caught by the one where someone phones you and pretends to be from Microsoft in order to get you to give your card details as they say you've a virus on your computer. Sounds ludicrous but it must be convincing as lots of people fall for it.

I haven't been yet but I am very conscious of the scams so make sure that everything is legit

We have been lucky as of yet but my Dad who is in his 70's has been scammed twice. I have had to tell him to stop responding to emails because of it and to let me look through anything in future

My mother was on the phone one day talking to someone , then I saw her reach for her card and I stopped her just before she gave details of it, whoever was on the phone had told her she had won something but she had to pay for delivery, it was a scam and I am glad I was there to stop her

i think i am pretty savvy to know about the latest scams but always check my bank details daily to check if anything is irregular

I definitely have an internal siren! One of my friends shared something on Facebook recently that did seem too good to be true. Lots of my friends were rushing to join it and I stupidly started and got through the first stage (giving my phone number - what a twit). Luckily I realised that it was a scam and although I had a week of telephone calls from India, they have now stopped.

I get lots of e-mails supposedly from banks which I instantly delete, I also watch out for emails that have bad grammar and spelling as these will be scams.

I am pretty savvy over fraud, but annoys me so very much that these people are out there trying to scam people

I'm pretty savvy and have never been the victim of a scam but my mum recently had her bank account cleared out when someone rang her pretending to be from BT and she fell for it and gave them her bank details. 😞.

I'm always very aware of dodgy sites and scams.I only goto recognised sites for purchases, always check the padlock sign is present when inputting cards details.

My Next account - someone managed to change my email address, Next said they were leaving it a day to see if I noticed and then would have changed the delivery address and cleaned me out. I hate that online shopping isn't safe as its so easy and convenient.

I am a very wary person and do far have managed to stay clear of scammers. I am quite rude to people who phone that I don’t know as I see it as a violation of my privacy.
I delete any email which I don’t recognise.

I'm wary of emails that ask you to click on a link to take you to your account , I go directly to the website instead of clicking on the link

i never open unusual emails

If something is too good to be true then it nornally Is!!!

I had my paypal account hacked and the scammer bought £800 of tech to be delivered in the Phillipines. I almost ignored the thank you for your purchase email as there are so many fake ones each day! Luckily paypal were on it straight away and I was refunded within 24 hours. Don't know how it happened, thought my password was super secure!

My credit card had loads of successful and unsuccessful attempts on it. (mobile phone top-ups etc. and ear-marking 1p etc. ) Received worrying text alerts and had to have a new card number. (after it was reissued after a data breach few months before)

I'm pretty tech-savvy so haven't fallen for any email phishing scams (though I get so many in my inbox, it's a real nuisance). I also don't answer calls from anyone I don't recognise anyway so that's not an issue either!

I've never been scammed, and I sometimes wonder if I'm too cautious - don't click on any links in emails - I always navigate to the site through google if I want to click through to something.

My first thought on any sort of unexpected phone call is fraud, so I can't see how I'd ever be tricked into something.