The Fake DVLA Scam

Not sure how long this email has been around but its the first time I have seen it.  The email is below.  It basically says than my car has no road tax and its the last warning I will receive from the DVLA.  I should then follow the green link and pay it.  Now viewing this on my PC it looks dodgy but if you viewed it on your phone its less obvious..

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Things to look for:

The “from” address says GOV.UK.  But after that it says noreply0024govuk@tkmsoftware.net.  TKMsoftware ???? nothing to do with the DVLA.

Also it is not addressed to anyone. No reference to the vehicle.

I have followed the “START NOW” link (I would not advise you do this).  Firstly, I got a warning from Windows Defender to avoid this site.  I continued and I then had a warning from Kaspersky, my internet security.  I continued and was presented with screen that was a copy of the DVLA site, see below.  It asks for all my details, Name, DOB, Address and then my bank card details.  The only thing it does not ask for is any details of my car.  Not the registration, the V45 logbook details or anything to link the payment to my car

Once again if you look at the web page it has taken me to, it should be www.gov.uk.  It not, its guu.guk.temporary.site

My best advice is DO NOT FOLLOW LINKS IN EMAILS.  Even if you think it maybe genuine go to GOV.UK. Open a browser (edge, Chrome, Firefox) and open the genuine page from there.

Rather than look at what is presented to you, look for what is missing it can often be a dead give away.

STAY SAFE.

I was having the usual look through Facebook earlier this week when I came across a page that looked like a genuine BBC News report.  It was talking about Robert Peston a well known BBC reporter.  He had been on a ITN program so the report claimed and was making various claims of how to make money.  Nothing new there articles like this often appear on social media.  99% fake.

What struck me at the time was the page displayed was almost exactly like a BBC News web page. The menus, the colours, the font. Everything, so it looked like a BBC page. Only things was, none of the links to other articles worked. If you clicked, they did nothing.  “Strange” I thought.  After scrolling down the article there was one link that was active.  This took you to another page with no relation to the BBC at all.  It was a fake money trading site.  See the image below.  It gave the false impression that Robert Peston had made lots of money via this site and that the BBC and ITN had reported it as being the place to invest your money.

This got me thinking!!

How do you report a fake web site?

If you find a site you think is fake the take a few moments if you can to report it to the National Cyber Security Site, click the image below.  It only takes a few minutes and may stop someone being fooled and scammed by these sites.

 

Hertfordshire Police have again this week warned of an increase in phone scammers reporting to be from your Bank or the Police.  Many of these will spoof the number, this means they can make the number that appears on your phone to look like the genuine number the bank or police would use.

See the link below.

If you think you may have been the target of a phone scam call you bank on the number on the back of you debit or credit card or call 159.

https://www.facebook.com/hertspolice/posts/pfbid022o1nxC4XJWxX58ZB7W63qi36x9Xqn1vJBDWp7g8yuAXGFJFzRZGYr94WtWSr3VoVl

Amazon Scam Warning.

Hi

I received an email from Amazon today. I verified it was genuine first.  It is regarding methods used by scammers and customer accounts.  It talks about what to look out for and also what Amazon will and will not ask you for over the phone or via email.  Its well worth a quick read.

Click this link to view the warning Amazon have provided regarding Amazon Scammers

 

Anti Virus Email Scams.

These are emails that try to appear as if they have come from an Internet Security company like McAfee, Norton and many others.

In the example below which I received this week, it claims it is from McAfee. This has nothing to do with McAfee.

I can tell this is fake immediatley but I see these type of emails regularly.  If you click the above image it will be easier to see.  It is only an image so will cause no security risk.

How can you identify it as fake?

• Firstly at the top where it says who it is from, it says marketing@eehhaaa.com.  That has nothing to do with McAfee.  If it said McAfee Support or some other name it may still not be genuine (the “from” address can say anything.  Its called Email Spoofing) if you hover over the address it should show what address is behind the name.
• It says “Secure Status” which is not correct and is says “Suspended”. Further down it says “Ended on Today”
• It also says 89% discount (seems too good to be true) and the offer ends today. That is to encourage you to renew it NOW, so you are secure and do not loose out on the offer.  They are trying to scare you into making a rash decision.

It is quite a poor example of a scam email, there is no logo or branding.  They are not necessary after your money.  Most likely they want you to try to renew and they then get your email address and password which they can then try on other sites.

If you are not sure just delete it. They are phishing for information.

If you are worried give me a call I am more than happy to advise.

Stay Safe.

As many are aware, VirginMedia have been having major problems with email since Sunday 18th June. They have reported that all users should now be able to login to their email. However historical email, so all email and folders prior to 18th may not yet be available.

This is the most recent statement from VirginMedia Support

Update – 22/06/23

We have now restored the ability to send and receive emails for all affected accounts. Our team are continuing to work flat out to restore historic emails into the inboxes of a small proportion of accounts. We apologise again for any inconvenience caused over the past two days.

Update 28/6/2023

Hi, Further to my email to you on Friday 23 June, I wanted to provide you with a brief update on your Virgin Media email service. While you can still send and receive emails as normal, our teams are continuing to work on restoring historic emails into your inbox. Unfortunately, this is taking longer than we first anticipated. We will be in touch before the end of this week to confirm when historic emails will be restored. Our teams are working around the clock to fix this issue and we sincerely apologise that this is taking longer than expected. Kind regards, Axel Wehrle Director of Customer Service, Virgin Media