Friday 3rd May 2024 - NERCU Report New Scam Targeting Online Shoppers
The North East Regional Organised Crime Unit #NEROCU have posted this warning on LinkedIn on Friday 3rd May 2024:
We’re warning of a new scam surfacing on apps and sites like Vinted after nine North East victims have come forward – with a total loss of £2,600 so far.
The scam involves victims trying to retrieve funds after a failed transaction. They are then contacted by a fake ‘Vinted’ chatbot and advised to open a new Revolut account to resolve the issue.
They are told to add money to activate the account so the previous amount can then be retrieved. Once the victim does so, the scammers then remove all the funds from the Revolut account.
🚫 NEROCU’s advice is to stop and take time to assess any situation that involves transferring money or giving personal information to anyone. No genuine site or agency will pressure you to make a decision or transfer money.
If you have concerns or doubts, close the site or app and open it again from a trusted source to ensure you’re speaking to a legitimate person.
While we also work with banks and community groups to educate staff and the public around spotting the signs and how to report it, we also need victims to report as soon as they can so police and partners can work together to dismantle frauds.
💻 For further help and advice, and to report fraud, please visit the Action Fraud website
Friday 3rd May 2024 - New £150m service will stop, block and catch more fraudsters, says City of London Police Authority chair
The new £150 million service to replace Action Fraud will “streamline victim reporting” and “empower swift police intervention” to stop, block and catch more fraudsters, the City of London Police Authority has said.
The new service is designed to make it easier and quicker for everyone to report fraud and cybercrime and significantly improve the speed and quality of information provided to law enforcement partners, boosting their chances of successful prosecutions.
Thursday 26th October 2023 - UK's Online Safety Act Receives Royal Assent
Today, the online Safety Act received Royal assent, meaning Ofcom’s powers as online safety regulator have now officially started.
So what does that actually mean?
The Online Safety Act makes companies that operate a wide range of popular online services legally responsible for keeping people, especially children, safe online. Services must do this by assessing and managing safety risks arising from content and conduct on their sites and apps.
Services in scope of the new rules include user-to-user services such as social media photo and video-sharing services, chat and instant messaging platforms, online and mobile gaming, as well as search services and pornography sites.
Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s Chief Executive said:
“These new laws give Ofcom the power to start making a real difference in creating a safer life online for children and adults in the UK. We’ve already trained and hired expert teams with experience across the online sector, and today we’re setting out a clear timeline for holding tech firms to account.”
“Ofcom is not a censor, and our new powers are not about taking content down. Our job is to tackle the root causes of harm. We will set new standards online, making sure sites and apps are safer by design. Importantly, we’ll also take full account of people’s rights to privacy and freedom of expression. We know a safer life online cannot be achieved overnight; but Ofcom is ready to meet the scale and urgency of the challenge.”