Email scams

Unsure about an e-mail you have received?

It is an unfortunate fact that the internet is widely misused by fraudsters carrying out e-mail scams. Some very common forms of false e-mails seen are as follows:

• false claims that people have won on a national / state lottery (known as fake lottery scams)
• false claims that people have been left money in a will (known as will frauds)
• false requests from banks or other financial institutions for customers to verify their security details (known as phishing frauds)
• false requests for help from people to assist in moving large sums of money from one jurisdiction to another, in return for a high percentage fee (known as advanced fee, or “419” frauds)
• false requests to people using internet auction sites to remit monies owed via routes other than the official settlement system run by the genuine internet site. 

If you receive any of these kinds of e-mails – BE AWARE! – THEY MAY BE FRAUDS!
If you are unsure about any e-mail you receive, the best general advice we can give is DO NOT RESPOND TO IT IN ANY WAY. Delete the e-mail without replying to it, or forwarding it on to anyone else, or downloading it to your own computer, or printing it. 
If you are still unsure about what to do with an e-mail you’ve received, please feel free to contact us on the details given below and we’ll discuss it with you.

The Force is aware that names of its officers and departments have been used by fraudsters to try to legitimise their scam emails.  The e-mail may purport to originate from the Force or contain a reference that suggests it has been sent from the Force, for example an address of a police building.  More likely potential victims will be directed to contact an officer or department of the Force to whom they may be required to pay an advance fee to obtain a much larger sum.  The fraudsters may claim advance fee will be to pay taxes, or obtain a “clearance certificate”, or some other purpose.

These emails are false and have not originated from the Force. Fraudsters widely appropriate the identities of companies, government bodies and legal organisations to try to legitimise their scams.  If you receive an email or other communication that claims to be from the City of London Police, or any of its officers or departments or if you require advice on this subject, please contact our Fraud Desk.

Fraud Desk
21, New Street,
London,
EC2M 4TP
United Kingdom

0044 207 601 6999

Frauddesk@cityoflondon.pnn.police.uk