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Trading standards’ scam emails warning
INCIDENTS of scam emails being sent from hacked email accounts is on the rise, says Buckinghamshire’s Trading Standards team, who are reminding members of the public to be aware.
The fake emails, which look like they have been sent from the genuine email address of a friend or a family member, are sent to all addresses in the address book of the hacked email account. The email will usually be titled “I need your help” or “I’m in trouble”, and will ask the recipient to send a ‘loan’ in excess of £1,000. The cause of these types of emails is usually that the sender’s email address has been hacked into by a cyber criminal.
Martin Phillips, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement, said: “If you receive an email of this nature, we advise you to try to establish if your friend or family member really is in need of help. If it’s your email account that has been hacked into in this way, contact your email service provider who will be able to restore your email address for you.”
All major web-based email service providers are aware of the problems with account hacking and now offer a system to quickly restore email addresses if they are hacked.
For more help on email scams check with your email service provider or visit the Trading Standards webpage at:
http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc/trading_standards/coldcalling/scams_cons.page?
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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