{"id":1287,"date":"2020-03-26T13:15:22","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T13:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2024-07-22T11:03:11","modified_gmt":"2024-07-22T10:03:11","slug":"four-easy-ways-to-spot-covid-19-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/four-easy-ways-to-spot-covid-19-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Easy Ways to Spot Covid-19 Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-lg-9 my-auto\">\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">While many of us are pulling together during this pandemic, some are seeking to exploit the sense of confusion, unease, and stress that we\u2019re no doubt all feeling. Online fraud, phishing, and scams aren\u2019t anything new, but the current situation creates a perfect set of conditions for the morally bankrupt to exploit. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">One of the most common scams doing the rounds right now is a text that claims to be from the UK Government, offering financial aid as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg-3 my-auto text-center\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid\" src=\"\/explore\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/194-Converted.png\" alt=\"Four Easy Ways to Spot Covid-19 Scams\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">While at a glance, it looks authentic, there are some quick checks you can make which will give the game away. Most online scams tend to have the same warning signs too, once you know what to look for, so you can apply this approach to any emails or texts you\u2019re not sure about. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h4 font-weight-bold\">1: Check the URL<\/h2>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A URL (or Uniform Resource Locator, to give it its technical name) is the address for a webpage. Every website and webpage has a URL, and you can see it at the top of your browser. Here\u2019s what JobLookup\u2019s web address looks like, as an example:\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink\" href=\"\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">https:\/\/joblookup.com\/<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid img-thumbnail\" src=\"\/explore\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/scam1.jpg\" alt=\"The UK Gov scam text about Covid-19 financial support\" width=\"436\" height=\"947\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Legitimate websites generally have easy to recognise URLs. The official UK Government URL is\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, for instance. If you compare this with the scam URL in the image above, you can see quite quickly that something is off. Here are a few tips to help you verify whether a URL is likely to be real or fake:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Type in the name of the company or organisation in your search engine to find out what the real site URL is (\u2018UK government\u2019 in this case). If they don\u2019t seem to match with a suspicious text or email, then it\u2019s safe to assume it\u2019s a scam website.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If you\u2019re using a laptop or desktop computer, you can hover your mouse over a URL or link to see what it is, and where it will take you, without having to click on anything. This will show you the full URL in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen (for most browsers), and it\u2019s a good way to check where linked text will take you. Try it on <\/span><a class=\"_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink\" href=\"\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">this linked text<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"h4 font-weight-bold\">2: Check the Spelling and Grammar<\/h2>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">We all make mistakes, and even the biggest and most reputable websites let the odd spelling or grammatical error slip through from time to time. That said, bad spelling and grammar can be a dead giveaway when it comes to scam emails and texts, and you don\u2019t need to be a professional editor or English language genius to spot them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Read the below message carefully as an example. It should read Covid-19\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Relief<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, not\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Relieve<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. It doesn\u2019t make any sense. Given that it\u2019s supposed to be an official government communication, it&#8217;s very unlikely this kind of mistake would happen at all, let alone get to the live Government website.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid img-thumbnail\" src=\"\/explore\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Scam2.jpg\" alt=\"The Covid-19 Scam webpage looks close, but isn't the real thing\" width=\"442\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In general, if sentences seem odd to read, have bad spelling, or use nonsensical wording, it\u2019s a fairly good indicator that the message is not from an authentic source.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h4 font-weight-bold\">3: Check the Official Channels<\/h2>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If you\u2019ve tried the above methods and still aren\u2019t sure, then try checking official channels. Facebook and Twitter are good places to start &#8211; you can often find all the latest updates from a company or organisation on these platforms. If you can\u2019t find any trace of the \u2018offer\u2019 you\u2019ve received, then there\u2019s a good chance it doesn\u2019t exist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Searching online for keywords (like \u2018coronavirus scam\u2019 in this case) can also give you a better idea of whether an email or text is a scam or not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h4 font-weight-bold\">4: Check Fact-Checking Sites<\/h2>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are a number of sites that regularly fact check news stories and other information. Some of them also examine claims posted on social media, and related scams. Try looking for more information on sites like <\/span><a class=\"_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/fullfact.org\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Full Fact<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and see what you can find. The information on these sites tends to be very reliable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"card\">\n<div class=\"card-header font-weight-bold\">What You Can Do<\/div>\n<div class=\"card-body\">\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">If you\u2019re still not convinced about the authenticity of an email, text, or anything else, even after using these checks, then don\u2019t take any risks. Don\u2019t open any URLs or links, and don\u2019t enter or send any personal information. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">All companies and organisations take online scams and fraud very seriously. The best thing to do is reach out and contact them with as much information as you can provide. Additionally, you can report any suspected fraud or scam to the Police at <\/span><a class=\"_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.actionfraud.police.uk\/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Action Fraud<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While many of us are pulling together during this pandemic, some are seeking to exploit the sense of confusion, unease, and stress that we\u2019re no &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1287"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4378,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions\/4378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}