Police have warned the public to be vigilant after uncovering a nationwide scam that is targeting supermarkets such as Tesco and Morrisons.
The scam is designed to trick customers into believing they are receiving a voucher for one of the major retailers, however the websites are actually a hoax, taking the public's personal and financial information.
The coronavirus pandemic has unfortunately seen a large number of online scams, aiming to catch people at a challenging time when they are most vulnerable. According to Action Fraud, the police's fraud team, more than £2 million has been reported lost by over 1000 victims of the scams.
In one case, fraudsters are also targeting Tesco customers in an email-based scam campaign, reports Cambridgeshire Live.
The initial hook into the scam is said to come via an email, with an advert for free vouchers if they click through on the link provided. The website which it leads to also appears to seem legitimate, however it is designed to steal personal information.
The email reads: "Dear Customer, TESCO is giving you a chance to shop for free this COVID-19 season at any of out outlets or online by giving out free vouchers.
"This offer is for All users and it will be on until the end of April 2020. To Qualify follow the link below and input all the details required.
"After validation, if selected your voucher will be sent via text message or posted to your Mailbox. Thanks for taking part, The Tesc0 team."
The public are advised to never open links or attachments in suspicious emails and never respond to messages asking for personal or financial information.
However it is not just emails that scammers are focussing in on, in another case, a Whatsapp message promising a £250 shopping voucher at Morrisons supermarket is actually a ploy to steal people's bank details.
A link to a scam website using the name ‘Morrison’s Super Market’ is received through WhatsApp as a forwarded message, with the following information:
"Morrison’s is giving away free groceries worth £250 to support the nation during Corona pandemic. Hurry up! Collect your FREE voucher."
It’s said to appear genuine and the link to the website provided was: http://morrisons.uk-groceries.store/#
The first warning sign is that the link starts with 'http', which isn't secure - links should always start 'https', said Nottinghamshire Police, who detected the scam.
Upon entering the site, people are asked to answer three questions before being taken to another web page asking to circulate this offer among friends using WhatsApp.
When going to share this message it leads to another page informing you that you can win an iPhone 11.
You’re then asked to pay £1 for handling charges and request your bank/credit card details to process the payment.
Nottinghamshire Police gave the following advice to protect from fraud:
- Pick strong passwords – Use Three Random Words with a mixture of Upper/Lower case, consider adding numbers and special characters.
- Be wary of phishing scams - Don’t click on any unknown links in emails and use two factor authentication.
- Social Media – If you use social media, review the privacy settings to ensure your profile is locked down, so only your friends can view.
- Use antivirus software and make sure that it is kept up to date.
- Backups – Always back up your most important data such as your photos and key documents, back them up to an external hard drive.
Action Fraud provides free materials to help the public protect themselves from fraudsters online.
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