Beware of the latest Home Office Penalty Notice scam

Beware – ‘Home Office’ Penalty Charge Notice SCAM

We’ve been informed of the latest email-based scam this morning

Scams are becoming common in our every day lives. The level of skill employed by financial scammers is dangerously impressive. Be wary of anything asking you to act quickly, or anyone attempting to make you uneasy – like a fine or penalty. Scammers are not afraid of impersonating government bodies or even financial regulators.

Purporting to be from the Home Office, this scammer has targeted UK residents by sending out a vehicle charge notice by email. See the level of attention to detail used with complex references and mocking the language used in parking or other vehicle fines.

The notice, cleverly including a supposed penalty charge number and payment reference is NOT from the Home Office.

What to look out for

Look for little details in any ‘official’ looking communication. Here, you can see the Home Office logo is distorted, giving a good indication of a scam artist in operation. There is always a ‘call to action’ involving you giving away personal bank details. In this one, they are making the target uneasy with a typical UK fine notice. Yet, the fine seems reasonable enough for the target to simply pay, and not have any further hassle from the Home Office.

Get in touch with us if you’re worried about scams

If you receive this email, or anything like it please let us know. We want to expose scammers like this and warn people of the latest scams doing the rounds.

If you’re concerned about an email, test or telephone call you’ve received, we would be happy to investigate. Please contact us to help us warn others.

Beware – ‘Home Office’ Penalty Charge Notice SCAM

Tagged on: Financial Scams

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