Facebook fakes: This week we have received reports of residents being scammed by various fake high-profile individuals. In one incident a Felixstowe resident lost £200 to a scammer impersonating Kevin Costner, and in another incident a vulnerable resident came close to losing £1000's after following a Tom Jones profile on Facebook. The Tom Jones fraudster used AI technology to mimic his voice, sending messages to the victim requesting money for a VIP experience. The Kevin Costner fraudster also used AI technology to send videos to the victim, pretending to be the celebrity. When interacting on social media, don’t just look at the competition post. Look at the page history, and the other posts on the page. Does it look genuine? When interacting with public figures and brands, you should look for a verified badge on their Page or profile (the blue tick). The verified badge means Facebook has confirmed that the Page or profile is the authentic presence of the public figure or brand it represents. Be careful if a public figure does something like:
- Ask you for payment in the form of gift cards, money transfer or through Messenger.
- Ask for your financial information as part of a giveaway, or direct you to a suspicious link or website asking for your personal information.
- Use a suspicious Page or profile URL that doesn't seem associated with the public figure.
If you come across a fake page on Facebook, report it by going to the page and tap *** from the top right and select “Find support or report”. Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve been scammed and report it to Action Fraud.
Celebrity fraud; If you see an online advert, particularly if it features a celebrity, always assume it could be a scam! That's the warning from Martin Lewis after analysis of Action Fraud data found that the Money Saving Expert (MSE) founder, alongside Taylor Swift and Elon Musk, is the most featured public figure. www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2024/07/martin-lewis-celebrity-scam-warning
Don't get caught in a subscription trap! We are receiving reports from residents who have purchased a product(s) from a catalogue, only to then discover they have been signed up to various membership clubs. One Suffolk resident recently contacted us to advise that they had placed an order over the phone for an inexpensive item seen in a catalogue, and once the operator had taken their bank card details he started to pressure the resident into joining various discount clubs. The Suffolk resident declined several times, making it clear that they did not want to join any membership magazines. Two days later the resident was called and again asked about joining various discount clubs. Again, the resident declined. Shortly after the resident started to receive post from many reward, discount and membership magazines covering subjects such as gardening, travel and cookery. Although the resident was able to get all subscriptions cancelled, it created a great deal of stress. Citizens Advice research found that:
- 1 in 10 people are currently paying for a subscription they do not use. Of these consumers, 65% are paying over £132 a year for unnecessary subscriptions
- 1 in 5 people who have tried to cancel a subscription found the process difficult.
If you are the victim of a subscription trap:
- Make every effort to contact the company concerned to cancel the agreement.
- Contact your bank to cancel future payments.
- Ascertain with your bank whether a new card is needed.
- Request reimbursement from the supplier if the advertisement did not explain the charges, but be aware that without a copy, your claim may fail. If the website has changed in the meantime, try accessing your internet browser’s cache or the internet archive.
- Refer a complaint about the bank to the Financial Ombudsman Service If the bank refuses to stop the charges or reimburse charges that have been made, consider referring the issue to the Financial Ombudsman
- Contact Trading Standards via 0808 223 1133.
If you believe your personal data has been misused or you receive nuisance texts, calls or emails, report them to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) helpline on 0303 123 1113.
Do you know what your kids are doing on the internet? With all the time that children seem to spend online, how can you be sure that the young people in your family are safe from the issues they can encounter every day? Check out these easy-to-follow tips to help your child enjoy a safe and confident experience online.
- Sit down and talk regularly with your child about their online activities, and get them to show you what they’re doing. Keep abreast of new technologies and trends. Talk about the potential negatives, like oversharing, accessing inappropriate content, cyberbullying, stranger danger, uncontrolled spending and being online for too long. Set a good example yourself.
- Steer your child towards safe searching, websites and apps. Check what they’re watching and/or sharing on streaming sites like YouTube and TikTok. Encourage them to use child-friendly platforms like YouTube Kids.
- Familiarise yourself with new game and social media trends, especially those attracting negative publicity because they may be violent, encourage gambling or leave the way open for messaging random strangers, enabling hence potential grooming or other types of coercion.
- Don’t underestimate the part social media and messaging apps play in your child’s life, nor how what they experience online can make them feel, including affecting their wellbeing and mental health.
- Gaming, social media, picture/video sharing and many other apps and websites have lower age limits for a reason, so you should make sure your child doesn’t access those for which they’re underage.
- Discuss and agree boundaries and rules from a young age, including appropriate online usage, always being respectful and how much time they spend online. Empower your children, but remember they don’t have the experience or maturity to always make the right decisions.
- Consider setting up parental control software and apps on computers, mobile devices and games consoles, privacy features on social networking sites, safety options on search engines and safe location settings on devices and apps. Turn on your ISP’s family filters.
- For video calls, ensure your child’s safety by updating to the platform’s latest version, following its safety advice and checking that call invitations and replies can’t be seen by anybody outside the agreed call group.
- Online gaming is widely recognised as having many developmental benefits for young people, but talk to them about potential negatives like chatting to strangers, in-game purchases, gambling on loot boxes and excessive screen time.
- Warn your child about misinformation, disinformation and fake news and show them examples. Advise them not to believe or share everything they see or read, especially in these days of sponsored ‘news’ and AI-generated images, videos and text.
- Warn your child about confidential information, personal details and images/video about themselves or others they share in posts, profiles, messages and chats. Consider what you share yourself.
- Download apps only from recognised sources like App Store and Google Play. Add your own email address when setting up accounts and apps for your child.
- Without being controlling, keep an eye on your child’s online activities and know how to recognise the signs of something not being right. For example, criminals have exploited increased online use for recruiting young people into illegal activities such as malware coding, money/drugs muling or extremism.
Hidden charges for paying with a debit or credit card has been banned since January 2018. It is unlawful for retailers to charge additional fees when someone uses a particular credit or debit card, or other payment systems like PayPal, to make a purchase. This is to ensure consumers can be confident that there won’t be any nasty surprises, and they won’t be penalised for wanting to pay in a particular way. The ban on surcharges does not apply to commercial debit or credit cards. Businesses are allowed to make a charge for accepting a payment by any other method - for example, cash, cheques, standing orders and direct debits. However, under the Regulations, if the customer has to pay a surcharge for using a particular method of payment, then that surcharge must not be more than it costs the business to process that method of payment. The Regulations do not specify any maximum amounts as the costs should reflect the actual cost to the individual business of processing the payment. If you are concerned that a retailer is charging a surcharge for the use of consumer credit cards, debit cards or charge cards, or electronic payment services, you can report them to Trading Standards via 0808 223 1133. Business Advice: www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/pricing-and-payment/payment-surcharges
Police Connect is a messaging service connecting you to the very latest policing news for your area via e-mail. There is no charge for this service – all the emails you receive are free. You can register to receive information about the issues that most matter to you. You can choose to receive regular updates on crime and public appeals, safety advice and meetings and events, among the options available to you. For more information about Police Connect and to sign up please follow the link www.suffolk.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/wsi/watch-schemes-initiatives/as/suffolk/police-connect/ You can unsubscribe to this message service at any time.
Marks & Spencer is recalling M&S Chocolate Cornflake Mini Bites because they contain hazelnuts (nuts), oats (gluten) and wheat (gluten), which are not mentioned on the label. This means the product is a possible health risk for anyone with an allergy to hazelnuts (nuts) and/or for anyone with coeliac disease and/or an allergy or intolerance to oats, wheat or gluten.
Pack size: 180g
Best before: 06 August 2024
If you have bought the above product and have an allergy to hazelnuts (nuts) and/or an allergy or intolerance to oats, wheat or gluten, do not eat it. Instead return it to the store from where it was bought for a full refund. For more information, contact Marks & Spencer on 03330148555.