According to Reuters, online banking fraud has swept the UK, making it the new global capital of fraud due to good infrastructure, instant electronic transfers, widespread use of English, and less stringent financial regulation.
Some talk show hosts also half-jokingly declared on the show: If you haven't been scammed in the UK, you don't have a deep understanding of the country.
The current per capita fraud rate in the UK is about three times that of the US in 2020, and the amount stolen is 30% higher than in 2020 and more than 60% higher than in 2017, repeatedly setting a record.
Contrary to what one might expect, scammers seem to prefer rural areas of the UK. At present, the fraud rate of the small town of Slough in the south-east of the United Kingdom has surpassed London to become the first in the UK.
Global Information Services found that in Slough, every 10,000 households experience 25 identity fraud attempts, targeting about four times the national average in the UK (7 out of 10,000 households). At the same time, experts have found that fraudsters are more likely to be locals, who tend to lurk for months or even years to get closer to target two.
It is worth noting that the UK was already named the "Global Capital of Fraud" a decade ago. Moreover, scammers have long since gradually shifted their targets to the general public.
Young people renting small apartments have become one of the most likely to be defrauded in the UK in 2011, with their identity fraud risk scores increasing by 47% compared to before and more than double the identity fraud risk scores of the average UK resident.
The same is true for international students and young people in regular occupations, whose identity fraud risk scores have also increased by 75%. Correspondingly, the probability of being deceived by the rich is reduced by nearly half.
1The pandemic has fueled fraud
The epidemics of remote work, social interaction and online shopping have put people at greater risk of being scammed during the pandemic. Moreover, economists have found that people who are forced to quarantine, because they have been hit to varying degrees emotionally and physically, are more likely to trust strangers on social media who are booing and greeting them and showing "kindness" to them.
Interpol Secretary-General Jürgen said: "Criminals are using the fear and uncertainty created by COVID-19 to prey on innocent citizens who only want to protect themselves and their loved ones. ”
Moreover, unlike other industries, during the epidemic, foreign fraud groups have been "developed" in terms of fraud methods and technologies, although many of the means they use will seem a bit "pediatric" to us.
The first is phone fraud. Criminals would disguise themselves as hospital staff, or government officials to give victims claiming that their relatives were infected and demanding that they pay for medical treatment. Moreover, some fraudsters will even intimidate the victims, saying that their relatives involved in malicious transmission have been detained, etc.
The second is phishing. Fraudsters will pretend to be global health organizations to conduct investigations, or well-known multinational companies will run campaigns to trick victims into providing private information or opening attachments containing malware.
Also, due to the international nature of the English language, many scams are international scams. Criminals use bank accounts in Europe or elsewhere to disguise them as legitimate accounts associated with the impersonated company. While international organizations can hunt down some of these accounts and fraud, criminals will soon transfer them.
As early as the beginning of the outbreak (March 2020), INTERPOL assisted in handling approximately 30 cases of COVID-19-related, cross-border fraud, which resulted in 18 bank accounts being frozen and more than $730,000 of suspected fraudulent transactions frozen.
Online medical product purchase scams, or emails and links that provide medical support, also need to be aware, which is similar to the domestic Pheasant College Admissions website scam, and scammers often deceive victims through fake websites.
2 scams have nothing
In fact, as early as 10 years ago, the UK has become a recognized scam capital. Scams range from crude to complex, and although banks have introduced many features such as payee confirmation, fraud warning, etc., they have not improved the current situation. Of course, online fraud is inseparable, and the current banking scams in the UK mainly have the following categories:
1. Impersonation scams
The popularity of big data makes it easy for scammers to gather background information about their victims through social media, data breaches, or phishing messages to make the phone more convincing.
Moreover, it clones the bank's phone number based on number spoofing technology to deceive trust, so that we can't just trust caller ID. The UK has reported on crimes impersonating amazon groups, where perpetrators stole more than £400,000 (about 3.6 million yuan) from 200 victims.
2. Remote control software scams
Scammers impersonate identities such as IT departments, telecom providers, and banks to trick victims into relinquishing control of their devices in order to hack into their accounts and steal sensitive data. According to UK Finance, this scam surged by 84% in the first half of 2020, resulting in almost 15,000 reports and £58 million in losses.
It's a whole new form of technical scam where scammers call themselves agents at well-known companies (Amazon, BT, Microsoft, etc.) and use the victim's private data to convince them to allow the scammer to access the device.
According to statistics, TeamViewer is the most commonly abused remote access software brand by scammers, who will induce victims to enter codes on the grounds of "protecting accounts" or "authorizing refunds", so that they unknowingly grant the scammers full access to the device.
British Telecom
3. Calling card fraud
Banks are sending verification codes through more and more text messages to protect the interests of their customers. It is true that this approach provides protection, but on the other hand, it shows that the value of phone numbers for criminals is gradually increasing.
Scams involving SIM calling cards in the UK have skyrocketed by 400% over the past five years, with scammers moving victims' numbers to new telecommunications networks to intercept any textual information from banks.
Moreover, the most frightening thing about this method is that the fraudster does not have direct contact with the victim, and he can "unconsciously" take away the victim's property.
Specifically, after the fraudster has the victim's personal information, the fraudster will contact the victim's mobile phone network provider and persuade the network provider to transfer the victim's phone number to the Sim calling card in their hands on the grounds of the loss of the mobile phone.
4. Run fraudulent ads
Throwing scam ads on Facebook and Google has been a long-standing scam. British information company "Which?" In the UK, 43% of scammers were scammed by the ads they saw online (through search engines or social media).
Because they don't know how to report such ads, or if they don't pay off, most users usually choose to ignore such scam ads, which leads to a flood of scam ads on social media.
One of the most common is that scammers gain the trust of victims by running ads that well-known footwear brands such as Russell and Adidas are clearing up their positions.
Moreover, the methods of many fraudsters are the same as those of the "tea sellers" in China, and they often send cheap things to the victims, so that even if the victims report the crime, the British judiciary may not be able to make a strong response.
3How to prevent scams?
At present, the UK is becoming the choice of many international students and investors. According to the Embassy in the UK, around 210,000 Chinese students are currently studying in the UK.
The same is true for property investment, with the Sunday Times claiming that Chinese investors have amassed a portfolio of nearly £143 billion worth of business, infrastructure, property and other assets in the UK. Chinese companies have invested in key enterprises such as Heathrow Airport, UK Power Network, etc.
Chinese luxury property investment in downtown London has also surged, with orders from Chinese sellers accounting for 15 per cent of home sales from international buyers over £1 million and 20 per cent of deals over £10 million.
According to the 2020 Hurun China Luxury Consumer Survey, Chinese high net worth individuals are currently investing 12.5% of their wealth in overseas assets, with London ranked as one of the most popular investment destinations.
In this case, how to prevent fraud has become a problem that we must be clear. At present, the UK is launching a huge "Take Five" anti-fraud campaign, which proposes three points:
Start by thinking calmly, stop trading, then take evidence with skepticism, and finally contact your bank and report it to Action Fraud, the UK Fraud and Cybercrime Reporting Centre.
At the same time, if you only realize that this is a scam after granting the crooks access to your device, don't panic. First, take back control of the device.
If you still see the screen, there should be a disconnect button that allows you to end the session and disconnect external links by turning off WIFI or unplugging the network cable.
Second, notify the bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud. Then restart your device, check your computer for possible Trojans, and reset all your online accounts and associated passwords. Experts even recommend immediately restoring the device to factory settings.
The British police also listed the anti-deception rules, the first of which is, don't take advantage of it, be skeptical of all incredible offers, and there is no way to get rich quick.
Overall, with the development of the epidemic, fraud methods abroad have emerged in an endless stream, and the UK has become the "global bank fraud capital" because of its convenient conditions, and many of the most innovative fraud methods will be applied here and then spread to other parts of the world. Therefore, when investing abroad or studying abroad, we must polish our eyes and beware of scams.