Leigh-on-sea residents be aware of new scams

January 30, 2025

Be aware of the latest scams:

United Airlines scam emails

These appear genuine and offer $100 off flights if you complete a short survey, the email includes a button to start the survey. Clicking on the button will take you to a malicious site designed to steal your personal information.

DVLA vehicle tax scam

Criminals are sending out legitimate looking emails telling you that you are overdue on your vehicle tax and reminding you that you cannot drive without it. This, again has a button to do this. The website that this takes you to will look genuine but will steal your financial details and rob you.

Winter Fuel payment scam

This is a text from someone pretending to be the DWP and ‘the Department of Pension Protection’. It offers £300 to help with your heating bills and states a deadline (to put you under pressure). Clicking on the link will take you to another convincing website which asks you for your personal and financial details. If you are eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, you would have received a letter in October or November.

Report scam emails by forwarding them to report@phishing.gov.uk.

Report scam texts by forwarding them to 7726.

Remember, think before you click on links in unexpected communications. Check that it is genuine; do online research and contact the company or institution it says it comes from either through the genuine website or using a phone number from that website.

Electoral registration phishing email scam

Phishing emails asking residents to supply additional information in relation to registering to vote have been reported by other local authorities. The reported fake email address used is electoral@register-to-vote.electoral.agency - however, similar email addresses may also be used.

When you make an application to register to vote, the Electoral Registration Officer must verify your identity. Identity verification is undertaken by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), or by using suitable records held by the Council.

In some cases when we have not been able to verify you by DWP or other Council records, we will ask you to provide documentary evidence. To do this, we will either email you from elections@southend.gov.uk or write to you at the address given on your application. If you are unsure if an email you receive regarding electoral registration or elections is legitimate, please contact us on 01702 215010. More information on registering to vote is available on our website.

If you receive a phishing email, you should not click any links or respond to the email. Emails of this kind should be reported to the National Cyber Security Centre.

Holiday scams

This is the time of year when we all start thinking about the summer and potential holidays. This is also the time of year when holiday scams are at their highest. They place genuine looking adverts online and particularly through social media, often offering holidays that seem too good to be true at discount prices. Often, they are advertising holidays that do not exist or properties that they have no connection to, sometimes by stealing genuine advertisements.

To protect yourself, only use companies that are ABTA or ATOL registered; you can check this on their respective websites. Be exceptionally wary of anything advertised on social media and remember that ‘sponsored’ search engine results are paid for and there’s nothing stopping a criminal from pacing a fake advertisement, also they are very good at copying genuine websites so make sure that the site you are on is the right one, by checking the URL and clicking on the search result for the company and not the advert.

If you get caught out, report it immediately to Action Fraud and your bank. When making large purchases online, try to use a credit card as these have the best protection and the best chance of getting your money back.

Booking.com scams

Action Fraud are warning that people that have used Booking.com for holidays and accommodation could be targeted with emails or messages requesting payment from hotels who have had their accounts hacked by criminals.

The hack allows the criminals to send messages in the app, emails, and WhatsApp to trick you into making payments or providing your financial information. This was likely to have been enabled by a phishing attack.

If you have used Booking.com, the company and Action Fraud have the following advice:

No Booking.com transaction will require you to provide credit card details by phone, email, text, or WhatsApp

If you are contacted directly by a hotel, which sometimes happens, verify their authenticity before making a payment. I would suggest finding their phone number independently on the internet and calling them back.

If you receive urgent requests that require immediate attention, contact the Booking.com Customer Services Team via the details on their website to confirm before making payment. Do the same if payment requests do not match the details of your original booking confirmation.

Be extremely wary of messages that look like they are from Booking.com that contain instructions to follow links or open or download files If you have lost money or provided financial information as a result of this scam, tell your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud.