We are very aware that the more we write about scams, the worse it seems, so, a few more words of advice:
- don’t panic – it’s very unlikely it’s personal, they have probably sent the same scam to millions of people
- if it’s vague, imprecise etc, it’s wrong.
- if you panic, you will say or do something that may make the situation worse. It’s what they want you to do.
- if it seems to be from a company you do use, eg Amazon (sorry Amazon) saying eg your account has been charged tonnes of money, don’t follow any link, don’t reply or ring any number, first just look at your account on-line and see what state it’s in. If all looks fine, change your password and forget it (or maybe report it).
- be aware that there are companies who sell on your information to others to mis-use, so quoting something basic to you like a first name or postcode is no proof it’s not a scam.
- social media… look, if someone can make money from a thing, legally or not, then they will.