Scam Alert: Fake Currys Emails and Bogus Parking Texts
Two active scams worth knowing about this week. One's an email that racked up over 170 reports to Report Fraud in a single day. The other's a text targeting drivers. Both are designed around things that are plausible enough to make you hesitate before deleting.
1. Fake Currys email — "You're eligible for a free air conditioner"
An email arrives claiming you've been selected to receive a free portable air conditioner from Currys. With the UK's summer heat doing what it does, the timing is no accident. The email asks you to fill in a short survey to claim your prize. That link goes to a page designed to harvest your personal details, and in some versions, card information too.
Report Fraud flagged this on 20 July after receiving more than 170 reports in a single day. That volume tells you this is a coordinated campaign, not a handful of people getting lucky with a guess.
Currys don't send out unsolicited prize emails. If you haven't entered a competition, you haven't won anything. The link in these emails has nothing to do with Currys.
Forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk, then delete it.
2. Fake RingGo texts — "Your parking payment is outstanding"
A text arrives saying you have an unpaid charge from your "latest parking activity." It includes a link that has the word "ringgo" in the URL, which is the bit that makes people hesitate. The website it leads to is fake. If you enter your card details there, they go straight to whoever set it up.
As Which? reported on 14 July, these texts use URLs that contain "ringgo" within a longer fraudulent domain, specifically to pass a quick glance. The real RingGo site is myringgo.co.uk. Anything else isn't them.
RingGo doesn't text you about unpaid fines. If you've paid through the RingGo app, the Receipts section in the app is the definitive record. That's what to check, not a text you weren't expecting.
If you clicked the link and entered any details, call your bank straight away. Forward the text to 7726 to report it to your mobile network.
If it's already happened
Clicked a link and filled something in? Here's what to do:
- Call your bank straight away. The number on the back of your card. Most UK banks have 24/7 fraud lines and can often stop a payment before it clears.
- Change your passwords for any account that shares the same email address, starting with your email itself. That's the one attackers use to reset everything else.
- Run a scan with Windows Defender or your usual antivirus, especially if the site prompted you to download anything.
- If you were asked to install remote access software (AnyDesk, TeamViewer, or similar), get the PC looked at before using it again. Anything on it could have been copied while they had access.
How to report scams
- Scam text → forward to
7726(free on all UK networks) - Scam email → forward to
report@phishing.gov.uk - Scam website → report at ncsc.gov.uk
- Fraud of any kind → Report Fraud on
0300 123 2040or actionfraud.police.uk
Reporting takes about ten seconds and it does make a difference. The NCSC's email reporting service and the 7726 text filter both work from volume. The more reports come in about a specific campaign, the faster it gets shut down.
If you've given remote access to your PC, or clicked something and want to make sure nothing was left behind, I can check the machine properly. I handle virus and malware removal in St Helens and can go through it thoroughly.
Mark has been fixing computers since the late '90s and went self-employed in 2008. Based in St Helens since 2013, he works evenings and weekends from his home in Laffak — friendly, affordable repairs for PCs, laptops, and Macs. See reviews on Google
Think you've been scammed? Or had someone on your PC?
If you've let someone remote in, installed dodgy software, or just want your PC checked over — get in touch and I'll have a proper look.
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— Joe Gempton, via Google