What is Scam Text?
Scams are schemes designed to con you out for money and can be very distressing for those targeted. A scam text is a fraudulent message sent with the intent to deceive or trick individuals into providing sensitive information such as personal details or financial data. These texts often claim to be from legitimate sources, like banks or government agencies, but are designed to exploit and defraud recipients.
How to recognize it?
Signs to look for in a text:
- Inconsistencies in email addresses, links and domain names.
- Poor grammar and spelling error.
- Urgent action demands.
- An unfamiliar greeting or salutation.
- Requests for login credentials, payment information or sensitive data.
- Offers that are too good to be true.
- Suspicious or unsolicited attachments.
What to do?
Vigilance is your best defence. If it looks suspicious, it probably is. In case you receive any such message make sure not to click on a link provided or reply to it. In case the sender pretends to be a service provider you are expecting a parcel from, make sure to check the official website or call their no mentioned on the site.
If you’ve fallen victim to scam or you’re concerned that you have been compromised, you can report the scam to Guernsey Police or Action Fraud
https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime, the national fraud reporting centre.
Scams targeting guernsey post customers:
We are aware of the scam text posing to be from Royal Mail, please see our example image of what to look out for. No well-known delivery company would send messages to anyone like this.
You can also contact Trading Standards for more information on scams, and you can also read more on the States of Guernsey website here: