Consumer Support Network

Tips on how to prevent falling victim to a scam

Below are some basic tips on how you can protect yourself from scams:

Don't give out personal details to anyone who contacts you. If necessary, look up their number yourself and telephone them back to check their identity. If it is your bank, they should be able to give you your own personal details
Don't send money to anyone who contacts you and says you have won a prize. If you did not know you had entered a competition, the chances are it's a scam
Block premium rate telephone numbers. You can ask your telephone line provider to stop your line from accessing them. (This will not stop crooks using overseas numbers)
Block all international numbers. You can get a PIN number to lift the block and it can be reinstated for a small fee
You can stop most rogue internet diallers disguised as pop-ups by blocking all pop-ups. To do this, contact your internet service provider
Check that the number your computer automatically dials up to connect you to the internet is correct. Is it charged at local rates? If you find your internet dialler has changed, put it back to the correct number immediately by altering your setting - otherwise you could be charged up to £40 a minute
Don't read suspicious adverts on the internet. Rogue diallers can be disguised as games, email attachments or downloads. If you get a suspicious message, don't just ignore it; try closing the window by pressing the 'ctrl' key and 'w' at the same time
Keep your anti-virus software up-to-date. You can download free software that will scan your hard drive and clean viruses from your PC. Spybot Search and Destroy and Lavasoft's Adaware are 2 of them