Beware energy support scams

[Malced]

It should go without saying, but time and again people get caught out by scammers.

Yesterday I had a text which said I’d been identified as eligible for the energy support scheme. It encouraged me to register to ensure I received payments. I was certain it was a scam but I played along to see what would happen.

When I clicked the text it took me to a Gov.uk page. It looked exactly like the gov.uk style and branding.

There was a whole host of information about the energy support scheme. But above it was a button marked Register to continue.

When I clicked on the gov.uk sign at the top left it actually linked through to the real gov.uk website. On there I searched the info for the energy support scheme and found the same page of information that the scammers linked me to. The only difference was the register button.

Anyways, I clicked the register button and I was asked for personal details such as address etc. I typed in a few characters which were meaningless and these weren’t at all validated. But then I pressed proceed and there it was - a page asking for my card details for verification purposes.

I know there’s an attitude that people would be stupid to fall for these scams, but the information on the energy support is not widely understood. The way they’ve linked into gov.uk is almost convincing. It’s a trap people could well fall for - especially the vulnerable and elderly.

Just thought I’d mention it cos I think it’s good to increase awareness especially as there’s lots of vulnerable and elderly on this site

 

[Jaffa_The_Hut]

I had one yesterday saying it was about claiming this £400 that the government are funding towards your energy bill but it was from Govuk.net which completely gave it away as a scam.
I sure some old/venerable person could easily fall for it in desperate times.
Scum of the earth these sort of people I’d throw them to a pack of hungry Wolves once caught.

 

[JJpool]

It should go without saying, but time and again people get caught out by scammers.

Yesterday I had a text which said I’d been identified as eligible for the energy support scheme. It encouraged me to register to ensure I received payments. I was certain it was a scam but I played along to see what would happen.

When I clicked the text it took me to a Gov.uk page. It looked exactly like the gov.uk style and branding.

There was a whole host of information about the energy support scheme. But above it was a button marked Register to continue.

When I clicked on the gov.uk sign at the top left it actually linked through to the real gov.uk website. On there I searched the info for the energy support scheme and found the same page of information that the scammers linked me to. The only difference was the register button.

Anyways, I clicked the register button and I was asked for personal details such as address etc. I typed in a few characters which were meaningless and these weren’t at all validated. But then I pressed proceed and there it was - a page asking for my card details for verification purposes.

I know there’s an attitude that people would be stupid to fall for these scams, but the information on the energy support is not widely understood. The way they’ve linked into gov.uk is almost convincing. It’s a trap people could well fall for - especially the vulnerable and elderly.

Just thought I’d mention it cos I think it’s good to increase awareness especially as there’s lots of vulnerable and elderly on this site

You shouldn't even click the links as some can have viruses, malware etc.

A hacker could seize control of you device or track button presses to get passwords etc.