Please watch out for coronavirus scams

Please watch out for coronavirus scams. Criminals may use publicity around the virus as a chance to pose as a genuine organisation, including banks, police and the government.

They may pretend to offer you help and guidance and ask for your personal or financial information, or ask you to click on links online that may contain malware or dangerous data.

They will then use this information for their own fraudulent purposes.

Please remember that your bank and the police will never ask you to transfer money or move it to a safe account.

Take Five offers advice on avoiding scams. They urge you to:

Stop: Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe.

Challenge: Could the call/email be fake? It’s ok to reject, refuse, or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.

Protect: Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve fallen for a scam and report it to Action Fraud.

Here's some more guidance from Take Five.

And the HMRC have put together some examples of scams related to them.

And here's the latest information from Action Fraud with details of some the scams out there, so you can be aware and stay safe.