Cyber crime

Email and text scams

Be careful when opening emails and texts, especially if you don't know the sender. If an email or text is unexpected or seems unusual, even if it’s from someone you know, ignore it and contact the sender directly to check if they sent it.

Your bank, the police and reputable companies will never ask for sensitive or financial details via email, phone or text.

To protect yourself from scams, known as 'phishing':

• don’t open attachments or click on links in emails or texts from senders you don’t know
• never give out personal information, financial details or passwords in response to an email, when you receive an unexpected phone call or in response to a text message
• set up spam filters on all of your accounts
• don’t respond to emails or texts from unknown sources
• always go to a website directly, by typing out the address yourself, when logging into an account

Sexualised phishing 

The sexualised phishing email tries to convince you that someone has compromised your computer, by listing some technical details, and recorded you visiting adult content websites. They haven't, it's just an attempt to scare you into paying money.

We've seen different methods used by fraudsters to try to make their attempts more believable. Some have included part of a password, if you haven't changed your password for a few years it might be your actual password. They get this from data breaches that have occurred.

Other attempts have included adding an attachment with 'proof' of the recording. It isn't proof but instead a document that contains ransomware that will encrypt all your files and demand payment to get them back.

If you receive one of these emails then don't worry, don't interact with it in any way, don't send any money or anything else in reply.

You can forward the email to the suspicious email reporting service run by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). If the email contains links to malicious sites, the NCSC will take down or block those sites and seek to block the address it came from, so it can no longer send emails.

Sextortion

People use their devices for online dating, sometimes this can involve using webcams and cameras to send intimate pictures or videos. Sometimes the people you meet online aren't who they say they are – criminals also use these dating sites, befriending people online using a fake identity and persuading them to send intimate pictures, videos or perform sexual acts. These are recorded or saved by the criminals who then threaten to share the content with friends and family, unless you make a payment to them.

If you're a victim of sextortion, find out what you can do and what help is available.

Social networking

Social networks are a great way of keeping in touch with friends and family, but be careful about how much personal information you share.

Once you post or share something on any social media platform it’s out of your control and could be shared and used by others, even if you delete it.

Make sure you:

• set your privacy settings to the highest level and check them regularly as updates can affect settings
• don’t add or accept ‘friend’ requests from people you don’t know
• where possible, block apps and social media sites from tracking and showing your location, to stop people you don’t know from following you
• think carefully about the images, videos and content that you share
• remember that if you wouldn’t do or say it in the real world, don’t do it online

How to spot a fake website

If an online offer looks too good to be true, it probably is. To help spot a fake site:

• sense check the domain name
• are the prices too good to be true?
• never pay by bank transfer – legitimate sites will accept payment via usual methods, such as bank card and PayPal
• read the terms and conditions, and policies, to check they're clear and fair

Back up your data

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that threatens to publish the victim's data or perpetually block access to it unless they pay a ransom.

Regularly back up all your documents and photos in at least one other place to minimise the risk of losing everything if you get a ransomware virus. You can back up data onto:

• a USB stick
• an external hard drive, making sure that the drive isn't connected at all times, as ransomware can infect devices connected to your network
• a cloud server, making sure that the password you use for cloud servers and backups is a strong password and one you don't use anywhere else

Tips for parents and guardians

The internet lets children connect with friends and learn new things. But there are also dangers to going online, and children can be particularly vulnerable.

Talking to your child is one of the best ways to keep them safe online. By understanding the risks and keeping yourself up-to-date on the latest technology, websites and social networks you can help your child enjoy the internet safely and securely.

To help protect your children online:

• keep computers and games consoles in family rooms where you can monitor activity
• install parental control software or activate parental controls through your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to prevent access to inappropriate content
• ‘friend’ or ‘follow’ your child on social networks, so you can see how they're using them
• check age restrictions for websites or social networks to make sure your children are allowed to join
• advise your child not to post personal information or any images they wouldn’t want everyone to see
• check their social media accounts’ privacy settings, so their posts are only seen by friends and their location isn’t tracked
• avoid using webcams unless talking to close friends or family, and consider covering it when not in use
• monitor how your children use the internet and watch for any secretive behaviour 
• encourage your child to be open about what they do online and who they’re talking to
• insist you go with them if they wish to meet online friends
• ensure the games your children play online are age appropriate

Further advice and support

We recommend you check your privacy settings and stop people following you that you don’t know on Facebook.

You should also check your privacy settings on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

Action Fraud – the UK's national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre

Cyber Aware – essential advice on protecting yourself online

National Cyber Security Centre – helping to make the UK safer to live and do business in the UK

National cyber resilience centre group - a policing-led, not-for-profit organisation, protecting businesses from cyber-related crime