TV Licence holders across the country are being issued a warning as the number targeted email scams increases.
According to Action Fraud, which monitors cases of cyber crime, there have been over 3,400 reports of fraudsters using the TV licence as the subject of their con attempt in just two weeks.
The concern comes as those who have clicked on the links included in the scam email have seen their personal data and financial details stollen after being asked to input information on such as credit card or bank details online, reports the Mirror. The emails tell recipients that they are required to take urgent action to avoid being fined by the TV Licensing Board, causing alarm and meaning many click through and submit their details without a second thought.
“The emails state that the recipient's TV Licence is about to expire, or that there was an issue with their latest payment,” Action Fraud explained. "
The links provided in the email lead to genuine-looking websites that are designed to steal personal and financial details", the experts added.
The team are urging anyone who receives such an email to be take care and think before acting.
Official TV Licensing emails will always include your name and/or part of your postcode, with messages missing this data likely to be a scam.
The team at Action Fraud have also issued some advice on how to stay safe online and avoid becoming victim of cyber crime.
They suggest:
• If you have doubts about a message, contact the organisation directly.
• Don't use the numbers or address in the message - use the details from their official website.
• Your bank (or any other official source) will never ask you to supply personal information via email.
The latest scams may be avoidable for some users in the future due to the upcoming Gmail upgrade. Google is set to introduce Twitter-style blue ticks which will quickly show if a message has come from an account that’s verified.
The US tech giant says that the update has been introduced to increase email security by helping identify potential fraudsters and prevent dangerous span attacks.
"Strong email authentication helps users and email security systems identify and stop spam, and also enables senders to leverage their brand trust.," Google said.
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