Ways to protect yourself from scammers

Scammers are sending emails which are quite convincing. It's always worth taking a couple of minutes to check the details before risking pressing anything within an email.

Things to check include: hovering your mouse over the sender's email to reveal the actual account it came from. If the scammer quotes your account number or licence number, check that too. Another indication worth checking is did they use your name in the salutation?

Have a look (to the left) at the email I received this evening. It asked me for just £12 and helpfully gave me a "Pay Here" button. However the TV Licence number quoted is not mine, I don't use the email address the scammer sent it to for paying our TV Licence, and the email account they sent their email from is not Gov.UK TV Licensing but instead JosieSorrentino@hotmail.com

If you realise an email is from a scammer and you haven't clicked on anything within it, please report it to: report@phishing.gov.uk

If however you realise after providing information that it was a scam, report it to: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ or ring them on 0300 123 2040. If this included your card or bank details, talk to your bank immediately.