Shoppers have been warned that fraudsters are offering fake £1,000 vouchers to reel in unsuspecting victims. The scam emails, shared by Action Fraud, show promises of shopping vouchers for leading supermarkets Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.
With Christmas around the corner, some people may be enticed with the offers of money. They ask recipients to click on a link in the email to enter a draw.
However, victims will receive no voucher and could end up having their personal information or their finances stolen as this link may contain malware. Action Fraud claim that they have received 277 reports of this type of scam email in just one week.
Action Fraud warned on Twitter: "Watch out for these FAKE emails about the chance to win supermarket vouchers."
The fake email in the tweet reads: “With this email, it is our pleasure to inform you about being one of our possible winners of £1000! We are happy to inform you that you are one of three people in the final draw for a £1000 gift card from Tesco, Sainsbury’s or Morrisons.”
Action Fraud have also recently urged shoppers to bolster their cyber security heading into the festive season. They have warned that fraudsters may ramp up their scam efforts during a period of excitement.
Pauline Smith, Head of Action Fraud, said: "The festive season is an expensive time for many of us. It’s natural for shoppers to get caught up in the excitement of Black Friday deals, and rush into making a quick purchase online to bag a bargain.
"Unfortunately, Christmas will come early for criminals who see this as an ideal opportunity to take advantage of us with the tempting promise of bogus cheap deals."
This comes after the consumer experts at Which? issued a separate warning about TV Licencing and DVLA scam emails. While the emails appear convincing and have the same branding as the official government organisations, they still feature small mistakes which give them away.
Earlier in the year, the consumer charity's Director of Policy and Advocacy, Rocio Concha, said: "Scams continue to run riot, with victims suffering both financially and emotionally at the hands of criminal gangs, and helping consumers to be more aware of scams is very important."
If you think that you have received a scam email you should forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk.
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
