Protect yourself against fraud and scams

[stephen500]

Once you receive your pension lump sums, you are in danger, like myself of being defrauded or scammed.
Some thoughts.
1) News stories today, tell of Investment schemes, where the website appears bonafide and the FSA authority code appears correct.
Investors after taking what they think are reasonable precautions as checking the FSA authority number on the FSA site, then invest, sadly some up to £40,000 in what they think are reasonable investments.
It turns out that these investment websites are a form of clones, using the FSA code that the bonafide site does, resulting in over a period of time, some significant loss of monies to fraud.
[urlhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55816059][/url]

Now here is a scam, I could have fallen victim to this morning.
Before I tell you about it, some points worth making and I think I am right in what I say. (feel free to correct me)
Savings accounts seem more secure, as if you were to use your debit card or even worse, your sort code and account number of your current account to pay some thing and fraudsters used those details, they could clear out your current account. However, I don't think they would have access to your savings accounts, particully if they are protected by "secure pin card".
So I am minded to make purchases I do not make on a regular basis using my credit card and then paying my credit card off monthly from my current account. That way fraudsters never have access to my debit card or the sort code and account number of my current account.
So to get down to it and what happened to me this morning.
A Manchester United player on loan from China is from Nigeria (I know).
He has set up an orphanage fund called the Ighalo orphanage home. I know this is a binafoda home, as I have heard him talk about it on Man Utd podcasts.
Odion Ighalo has a verified twitter account. That means that twitter have checked it out to be from the person, it says it is from and they are a form of celebrity. It has a blue tick. Just below the blue tick, in his own bio it has the link to his orphanage fund.
I clicked on that link and then checked out the website, it took me to. I checked it was secure and had a certificate. I then proceeded to try and donate £20 using my credit card. It asked for my e mail address, card details, expiry and 3 digit security code, on the next page it asked for my name and address. I then attempted to pay and Barclaycard came up as "declined" and a phone mumber to ring with a code. I did not ring that number, but I rang Barclay card through my phone app. I quoted the code visa had given me on the "decline" and they told me that the payment link was for "FW shop" which was a known "fraudulent merchant" and that visa declines all payments to those accounts. They then blocked my card, confirmed no money had been taken and issued me with a new card.
So despite attempting to be careful with verified accounts and security certificates, I almost was undone by fraud.
What has this taught me.
Well for 1) I will use my credit card to pay things I do not normally pay, after checking out the merchant as much as I can. I will then transfer the money from my current account to the credit card, so no fraudster ever has access to my bank account details, by card or sort code or account number. I have also learnt to be even more careful and certainly will never attempt to give to any charity in Nigeria, however well meaning it looks.
Sorry Nigeria.

ighalo 1.jpg

Ighalo 2.jpg

ighalo 3.jpg