Tesco shoppers have been warned to beware of a scam email claiming to offer a £500 gift card.
The email links out to a dodgy survey website which asks you to answer a few questions for the chance to “win” a Tesco gift card. But the gift card doesn’t exist and the email has nothing to do with Tesco. The survey is a way for the scammers to obtain your personal and financial details. Which? flagged the email in its latest scam alerts release.
The fraudulent email reads: “Win a £500 Tesco Gift Card! Shop til you drop with this generous gift card from Tesco, your one-stop destination for groceries, household essentials and more. Enter now for your chance to indulge in a shopping spree!” A Tesco spokesperson said: “This online competition is fake and has nothing to do with Tesco. We are investigating this and urge customers to remain vigilant to these types of scams and phishing emails.”
It comes after Which? issued a separate, and unrelated, warning about a scam text doing the rounds to university students who are currently receiving their latest maintenance loan payments. The text pretends to be from Student Finance England and includes a link to a phishing website which imitates the official Government website.
How to report scams
Make sure you report scams and fraud to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040, or through the Action Fraud website. If you're in Scotland, report a scam through Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000 or on the Advice Direct Scotland website.
London, New York and Europe welcome New Year; plus pics from around the worldYou can also report scams to Police Scotland on 101. For scam emails, forward them to report@phishing.gov.uk, and for scam text messages, forward them to 7726 for free. You can report dodgy websites to the National Cyber Security Centre.
Contact your bank straight away if you think a fraudster has got access to your account. You can call the 159 hotline, which will connect you to your bank. Passwords that have been leaked or compromised should also be changed immediately.