Watch out for “HM Courts & Tribunal” Penalty Charge phishing email scam
An email scam targeting UK recipients claims to come from the HM Courts and Tribunals Service demanding a payment because the email recipient had used a vehicle in a “charging area” without paying the respective charge.
SCAM
An example of the email can be seen below.
Total cost: £25
Delivery date: 7:00am – 7:00pm
For the following: the use of a vehicle on a road in the charging area which a charging scheme applies without payment of the appropriate charge, at the date and location started below.
Location: United Kingdom
If you do not response before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of service of this notice a charge certificate may be issued which could increase the penalty charge to £100.
The email is a phishing scam that is designed to lure email recipients into clicking a link that leads to a spoof website.
A spoof phishing website is a site that is designed to trick visitors into believing it is the website of a trusted entity while asking those visitors to enter sensitive or personal information. That information is then sent to scammers.
In the case of the email above, recipients who click the link above to pay the charge (to be clear, there isn’t really a charge, since it is just a ploy) are taken to a spoof website that appears to look like the UK Government website. Visitors are told to enter payment information to pay the charge.
However that payment information is then sent to scammers who can use it to make unauthorised payments on the victim’s behalf.
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Here is a brief recap of our tips to help avoid and protect yourself against these types of phishing scams.
– Be wary of emails that contain little personal information and use generic greetings like “customer”.
– Watch out for poor spelling and grammar.
– Watch out for emails that emphasise a sense of urgency or seemed design into panicking recipients into clicking a link.
– Be wary of emails that don’t appear to be relevant to you. For example with the phishing scam above, if you haven’t visited an area in the UK that has any type of congestion charge, the email won’t be relevant to you, and as such should be considered suspicious.
– If the email seems suspicious or “off”, don’t click on any links within it.
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– If you do click a link in an email and you’re asked to enter personal or sensitive information, check the URL to see if you’re on an official website or an imposter website.
– Use two-factor-authentication on your online accounts. This way, if you do fall for such a scam and enter your login information into a spoof website, crooks would still need an extra piece of information to access your account (for example a code sent via SMS or created by an authentication app.)
– Have good security software installed that can detect a phishing scam. Our recommended security software is discussed here.
As for the email above, it is a scam and we recommend deleting it.
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