Very nearly got ripped of this morning.

[davidphilips]

Received an Email about tv licence and like a fool nearly paid it. Beware this is a scam Email and i am sure i will not be the only one to get it. At present the tv licence help line is not open, so check before paying or entering your bank details online.

​

Dear Customer, Your TV Licence will expire !!! You must renew it now, or additional fees will be applied. We are sorry to let you know that your TV Licence could not be automatically renewed.Something went wrong with your Direct Debit payment. Something went wrong with your Direct Debit payment Remember, you need to let us know if your personal information changes or switch to another bank Click Here To Update Please take care of this straight away or we may be forced to pass your details to a debt collection agency. Please keep this email safe, because it tells you how to access your licence online. Keep this email safe, because it helps you to access your licence online. Thank you! TV Licensing

© 2020 TV Licensing About us | Contact us | Accessibility

 

[Sharky]

Yep, we get this one frequently - just ignore it.

 

[Cycleops]

Looks very convincing. I’m sure it will fool quite a few.
Can you report it so these fraudsters will be blocked?

 

[PeteXXX]

MrsPete gets these and I've taught her how to report them as phishing. Luckily, we know it's a fib because we don't have a TV licence...
But, yes, they do look quite convincing!

 

[swee'pea99]

A tip for the top: no official communication of any kind ever contained a triple exclamation mark. Vanishingly few even contain one.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Looks very convincing. I’m sure it will fool quite a few.

But, yes, they do look quite convincing!

Do you think so, the language is far too aggressive to be genuine, @swee'pea99 beat me to the exclamation mark.

 

[swee'pea99]

Oh, and one other: if you float your cursor over any link, the address you're actually linking to will generally pop up on the lower left corner of your screen:

If it reads something like jerseyshoreunleashed.com, dodginess is to be assumed. (As a rider, don't assume the opposite - that if it looks right, it is; only that if it looks a wrong'un, don't touch it with a barge pole.)

 

[fossyant]

I've had some dodgy looking ones from "Amazon" asking me to update the payment card - no, it's got 2 years left before it runs out. Be very careful as loads of it flying about at the moment.

 

[dodgy]

Those 3 exclamation marks after the first sentence

 

[Deleted member 23692]

@swee'pea99 Whats bingo.mp4?

Do tell, I'm intrigued

 

[figbat]

Lots of phishy clues in that one:

- "Dear Customer" - TV Licensing will know your name
- "Your TV Licence will expire !!!" - three exclamation marks!!! Three!! Must be important!!!
- "...could not be automatically renewed.Something went wrong..." - no space after the full-stop. Not impossible for a legit mails to do this, but highly unlikely
- hover over the link and see what the url is. Nothing to do with TV Licencing

Assume all such mails are phishing unless you can convince yourself they are real. Do this by contacting the relevant authority through know legitimate routes (website, phone number etc).

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I followed the link (I'm not bothered) my browser (Chrome) immediately told me that the link wasn't safe & I had to confirm that I did indeed want to go there. Once there the top left corner gives you another idea that it's fake, UK Gov would not be using an Indian domain name.

You should always check the URL to make sure it makes sense.

 

[Drago]

I ignore anything like this via email. They'll always send a letter.

 

[I like Skol]

As has already been said, loads of grammatical errors which set off the warning klaxons (never mind alarm bells).
They are all fake, all of them! I have had to ban Mrs Skol from replying to such things after she signed up to receive a £200 Sainsbury's shopping voucher via a link a 'friend' sent her on Facebook and I also caught her trying to register for an unexpected tax rebate from HMRC (Who very strangely seem to use an agent in China to manage their refunds ).
She's a clever woman but not nearly suspicious enough. I'll say it again, THEY ARE ALL FAKE!

 

[CanucksTraveller]

I've had some dodgy looking ones from "Amazon" asking me to update the payment card - no, it's got 2 years left before it runs out. Be very careful as loads of it flying about at the moment.

That one got me I'm ashamed to say... ashamed because I do know better and I'm aware of all the tricks and how they con people, and it's the only time in my life I didn't spot it. My only defence was that it was very early, I'd just woken up and I'd ordered things from Amazon the previous night so some conscious bias crept in. I clicked on the link without checking, the "Amazon" sign in page was spotless and utterly convincing, I put in my password and it was only when the next page asked for more personal details (including bank account details as a "security precaution") that I woke up properly because they'd never ask that.

No harm done thankfully as I changed my password on the official site instantly, but I then had to go changing passwords all over the place to ensure everything was definitely disassociated with that compromised PW, which was time consuming.

Just shows that even if you're fraud savvy, we're all capable of letting our guard down, that second is all it takes.