Watchdog Magazine

Facebook Scams Archive

Fraudsters have always found new ways of deceiving people – it started with written mail, then telephone calls, emails and now even social media has become a medium of their malice. The popularity of sites like Facebook has made them a vehicle for scammers looking to steal personal data and use it for fraudulent purposes. Our advice is to never let your guard down, never part with sensitive information (especially card details) and be sure to review your privacy settings to prevent ID theft. Find out more about Facebook fraud by visiting Watchdog Magazine online.

Money Transfer Agent job scam

It sounds like the dream job, right? Wrong. In most cases, complying with an email offering you a job you never applied for will only become a financial nightmare. It’s just one of the many inventive ways that scammers are getting people to part with their money. Again, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Look out for the telltale signs: a high salary, excellent job prospects, an interesting role, and most importantly, a clause asking you send money!

Other Scams Archive

There are hundreds of scams out there and new ways of deceiving people are being thought up all of the time. To list them all here would be impossible, but we do try to cover as many as we can on our website and in our magazine so that you’re able to see them coming. Head over to the Watchdog Magazine website to see which scams are currently doing the rounds.

Issuance Of Funds Scam Archive

Issuance of funds scams are extremely common, and every year thousands of people fall foul of them. Make sure you’re not the next victim by keeping up to date with what’s going on via Watchdog Magazine. We report on all the latest issuance of funds scams and provide details of exactly how they work so you’re not tricked into parting with your hard-earned cash. On our website you’ll find a list of scams currently in circulation - be sure to let us know if you’ve been a victim of any of them. That way we can help others avoid the ploys of the serial fraudsters intent on taking their money.

Investment Scams Archive

Investment scams are also very common, with many people being deceived by unusually high interest rates each and every year. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is, so we recommend staying well clear of anything that appears out of the ordinary. On our website and in the Watchdog magazine you’ll find some case examples of investment scams currently tricking unsuspecting investors out of their time-acquired savings.

Investment Scams

If someone promises to make you richer than your wildest imaginings, the chances are they’re lying. Genies don’t exist, but fraudster certainly do, and they’ll use every trick up their slimy sleeve to con you out of your money. It usually starts with a telephone call: a seemingly legitimate broker offers you stocks in a company which is about to release a technical innovation that will change the way we view our lives. They’ll deliver all the right lines and if you don’t see through them, you could find yourself parting with a lot of cash. In the end you’ll always lose out, because the scammers know exactly how to play the market. Head over to our website for information and advice on safeguarding yourself against such ploys.

Fake Holiday Club Scams

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, and there’s certainly no such thing as a free holiday - so beware the person who offers you one. Holiday scams are increasingly common and often quite clever – indeed, some 400,000 people are deceived by them every year, costing them an estimated £1.17bn. However, armed with just a little information you can easily avoid becoming a victim. Check out our holiday scams archive to get the low-down on the ploys currently being used by the fake holiday fraudsters.

PayPal Scam

This type of email scam has been around almost as long as PayPal has existed, but people still fall for it. Often known as the honey-trap scam, it tricks you into believing that you need to enter your account details and password into the site the email diverts you to. When you enter the details you will be unwittingly handing over the keys to your PayPal account, allowing the scammer to spend thousands, even millions of pounds on internet purchases. Find out what to look for and how to avoid losing out by visiting Watchdog Magazine online.

Charity Scams

Believe it or not, there are people out there who have no scruples whatsoever about using charity as a guise for their deceitful dealings, playing on natural sympathies in the most inhuman way. Often, a scammer will set up a fake website that imitates a real one, allowing them to receive donations from charitable people and use it for highly uncharitable purposes. A recent example was a website set up in the wake of the marathon bombing in Boston; it appealed for donations to help the victims, but of course the money went straight into the pockets of the scammers who set it up. Find out how to avoid such insensitive scams by visiting Watchdog online.

Personal Cheque Scam

Action Fraud are currently warning of a cheque scam being run via the postal system. It claims that resident are receiving letters containing fraudulent hand written personal cheques through their letterboxes. Meanwhile, a resident of Staffordshire is warning that letters enclosing cheques from Bath Spa University are also fraudulent – something which the University itself has confirmed. 

Here’s how it works...

The cheques are sent via the post in the hope that people will tranfer them into their accounts. After the letter has been delivered, the resident will receive a call from a person claiming to have overpaid them and asking for the difference back. The cheque then bounces, leaving the victim out of pocket.