Scammers ‘exploiting cost of living crisis to steal money and information’

Scammers are exploiting people’s concerns over the cost of living crisis to steal money and personal information, officials have warned.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is part of intelligence agency GCHQ, revealed that some of the most common scams taken down in 2022 included phishing emails and messages from groups impersonating the government, HMRC and the energy regulator Ofgem.

One text claimed to be a government notification for people “eligible for a discounted energy bill” under a non-existent official scheme, including a link to another bogus website designed to fool people into handing over personal information, including their address.

A different text, designed to gain people’s bank details, claimed to be a notification for an outstanding tax refund of almost £300.

The NCSC said such attacks, known as phishing, aim to make people click on links that could download a virus or direct them to fake websites taking fraudulent payments or stealing bank details and other sensitive information. 

“Cyber criminals often seek to exploit topical events to make their phishing attempts more convincing,” the authority said.

“In 2022, the NCSC saw scammers exploit the rising cost of living with Ofgem energy bill support scams and HMRC tax rebate scams, while scammers continued to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to attempt PCR test scams.”

One such text which claimed to be from the “NHS-UK Health Department” told recipients they had been in close contact with someone infected with the Covid variant Omicron and directed them to book a test through a fake website.

NCSC deputy director Sarah Lyons said: “We know cyber criminals try to exploit trends and current affairs to make their scams seem convincing and sadly our latest data shows 2022 was no exception.

“By shining a light on these scams we want to help people more easily spot the common tricks fraudsters use, so that ultimately they can stay safer online.”

The NCSC said the most common government-linked scams linked to its Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) claimed to be from the NHS, TV Licensing, HMRC, the government website, DVLA and Ofgem.

It appealed for people to forward suspect emails and texts to the service, which received 6.4 million reports during 2022, and saw 67,300 scam URLs removed as a result.

Since SERS was launched in 2020, there have been a total of 15.8 million reports and 198,500 takedowns.

Mike Glassey, the chief information security officer at Ofgem, said: “Protecting consumers is our top priority and it is alarming that vulnerable customers are being preyed upon when people are already struggling so much with energy bills.

“That’s why, as energy regulator, on top of issuing our own warnings and advice, we have asked all energy suppliers to ensure clear and up to date information on scams is easily accessible on their websites.”

Ahead of an increase in online shopping in the January sales, the NSCS urged people to follow advice on its website to protect their bank accounts and personal information.