Brits have reported receiving fake emails claiming to be from Greater Manchester Police saying that they have been caught speeding.
The email states that the police are notifying them about a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) and have photographic evidence showing that the person failed to comply with the speed limit at a specific date, time and location.
This, in fact, would never happen as NIP’s are never sent by email, they are always sent through the post using a DVLA registered address.
The aim of the hoax email is to get the recipient to click on the link to check the photographic evidence, which leads to banking trojan malware – software that can hack into your computer and access personal and financial information.
UK security body Action Fraud warned it had received thousands of reports about fake emails claiming to be from Greater Manchester Police, but that fraudsters appeared to be targeting victims across the country, not just in Manchester.
Greater Manchester Police’s cyber crime unit said it had acted swiftly in relation to these reports and have removed one offending website which was hosted outside of the UK.
Detective Inspector Martin Hopkinson, of GMP’s Serious Crime Division, said: “Greater Manchester Police is aware of a scam email circulating informing the recipient that they have been caught speeding.
“This email is fraudulent and may ask you to give your personal or financial information or attempt to infect your computer with malware.
“Once your computer is infected with malware cyber criminals may be able to access your personal and financial information which could be used to defraud you.
“GMP would never send out correspondence via email requesting payment of fines nor will we ask for your personal and financial information.”
This latest scam comes as a report from the National Audit Office shows that the UK is failing to keep up with online fraud, and systems put in place to protect consumers do not yet provide value for money.
According to NAO, consumers lost at least £14.8bn last year through online scams because of failings by Trading Standards.
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