Fraud

According to reports, the first six months of 2019 witnessed a sharp rise in financial scams. The UK alone was hit by over 40 percent increase in financial scams, with a majority being authorised push payment (APP) frauds. These frauds resulted in over £ 354.3 million being lost in the year 2018, with over 84 thousand victims. Typically, APP frauds involve tricking the target into transferring money into a bank account, to which the scammer has access. However, with the below-mentioned expert tips, you would be able to identify scammers and avoid being a victim. Let us now discuss some of the most common APP frauds and how you can detect them. NHS Scams One of the most creative tactics that scammers are currently using in the UK, is to call up sick people and trick them into transferring money or divulging sensitive financial information by claiming to be from the National Health Service (NHS). These scammers even spoof the NHS phone numbers which make victims believe that they are genuine officials. Once you fall into their trap, they ask for a ‘small fee’ or your financial details. Recently, an 80 year old victim ended up sharing her bank details and subsequently lost around £5000 within 36 hours. Always remember that in most cases, the NHS does not charge the patients and you can be sure that it does not seek financial details over phone calls or emails. Tips to detect NHS Scams The very fact that you received a call from someone pretending to be an NHS official must tell you that it’s a scammer. The scammer tries to sell you a fake NHS product. Always remember that NHS does not sell anything. NHS officials seldom call patients and never seek any financial or personal details, nor do they ask for your

Privacy is a jewel in the crown of any country’s legal infrastructure, yet it seems to have lost its glitter, solely due to the blatant misuse of technology. Ever since the Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have sued The Sun and The Daily Mirror, London has been quite restless. Prince Harry, following his recent declaration, has filed petitions for telephone hacking, against the two media honchos. Although this isn’t the first time that a celebrity has sought a legal remedy for an invasion of privacy, this move by a Royal is the first of its kind. This bold move by the hot-headed Royal has come as a surprise with no clear details about incidents that have been referred to in the petition, except for the revelation that this has something to do with “illegal interception of calls”. While the details are yet to be rolled out, let us take a quick peep into what telephone hacking is and how you can prevent it. What is Telephone Hacking? In the past couple of decades, telecommunication and digital technologies have rapidly evolved. While that happens to be a good thing as it enables quick communication, it has its downsides too. The most dreaded one is telephone hacking, which refers to unauthorized access by a third person other than the phone owner. While the analog phones were intercepted using scanners, the present-day smartphones are even more susceptible to security breaches. A casual download or click on a malicious link could, in fact, provide absolute access to the hacker, giving away the details of the target’s personal communication and social media, as well. Let us now discuss how telephone hacking takes place and what you can do about it. How Are Telephones Hacked? There is a market for