Issue 1: January 2024
PART 2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Page 4
How to stay safe from common fraud
Page 8
Parcel delivery scams
Page 14 Time to talk day
Page 23
Our Mutual survey
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Contents: 4
Helping you stay safe from common fraud
6
Are you scam savvy?
8
Parcel delivery scams
12
Heart Month is here
14
Time to talk day
16
International Women’s Day
18
Smart Money People
20
We’d love to hear your stories...
23
Complete our Mutual survey
Contact the editorial team: members@harpendenbs.co.uk harpendenbs.co.uk Published by Harpenden Building Society. Harpenden Building Society is a member of the Building Societies Association. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority. Firm reference number: 157260. Head Office: Harpenden Building Society, Mardall House, 9-11 Vaughan Road, Harpenden AL5 4HU Harpenden Building Society reserves the right to reject or accept any advertisement, article or material received, prior to publication. We reserve the right to publish and edit any article or material we receive from our members. We accept no liability for any mistakes and no liability for any third-party website and their content. harpendenbs.co.uk
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HELPING YOU STAY SAFE FROM COMMON FRAUD Take Five is a national awareness campaign led by UK Finance and backed by His Majesty’s Government delivered with, and through, a range of partners in the UK payments industry. Take Five provides straight-forward, impartial advice that helps prevent email, phone based and online fraud – particularly where criminals impersonate a trusted organisation. Visit the Take Five website for their advice and to access the helpful material they provide. Here you can find more information as well as useful tips on how to protect yourself online from a wide range of different scams, along with keeping up to date with the latest trends in online fraud.
Consumers are urged to follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign to:
Criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations, and the police. They spend hours researching you for their scams, hoping you’ll let your guard down just for a moment. Stop and think, it could help protect not only you and your money, but friends and family’s money too.
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PHISHING Phishing is where a fraudster will send an email which appears to be from a legitimate company, attempting to obtain personal details from you. These phishing emails often contain a link directing you to a website which will ask you to re-verify your details. But beware, this will usually be a fake website, but it will look real and could also trigger the unknowing download of a virus to your PC or device. If the fraudster gets hold of your password and personal details, they can use this information to commit further crimes.
VISHING This is very similar to phishing but takes place over the phone. Instead of getting you to go to a website, the fraudster may request personal details from you directly or ask you to transfer money to an account.
SMISHING Just like vishing, fraudsters contact you by phone but instead of a phone call it is done using text messages where you are usually asked to follow a link or call a telephone number. This is called smishing.
STOP
TWISHING
Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe.
Again, this is another form of phishing, but this scam takes places on Twitter (now renamed to X) and often involves getting users to hand over their usernames or passwords.
CHALLENGE
QUISHING
Could it 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 at actionfraud.police.uk
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A QUICK JARGON BUSTER…
Quishing, also known as QR code phishing, represents a phishing technique that involves QR codes to trick potential victims. Similar to other types of phishing attacks, the purpose is to steal sensitive information, install malware on your device, or make you visit a website. Malicious individuals rely on QR codes becoming more popular, especially during the pandemic, when people got used to their use.
Visit the TakeFive homepage harpendenbs.co.uk
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TAKE FIVE’S TIPS ON HOW TO SPOT ROMANCE FRAUD?
ARE YOU SCAM SAVVY?
1 You’ve met someone online and they declare strong feelings for you after a few conversations
2 They suggest moving the conversation away from the dating website or social media to a more private channel such as email, phone or instant messaging
3 Their profile on the internet dating website or their social media page isn’t consistent with what they tell you
Criminals are turning to more sophisticated ways to take your money, whether through online offers, emails or telephone calls. Can you outsmart them? Put your ability to spot a scam to the test with Take Five’s spot a scam quiz and see if you are scam savvy.
According to the UK Finance 2023 half year fraud update*, a total of £18.5 million was lost to romance scams during January to June 2023, an increase of 26% when compared with the same period in 2022. With 2,120 cases being reported and a total of 18,889 payments being made in the first half of 2023 for this scam type. In a romance scam, the victim is persuaded to make a payment to a person they have met, often online through social media or dating websites, and with whom they believe they are in a relationship with. Criminals will use fake profiles to target their victims to start a relationship, which they will try to develop over a longer period. Once they have established their victim’s trust, the criminal will then claim to be experiencing a problem and ask for money to help. 6
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make claims such as their camera isn’t working
5 They refuse to video call/meet you in person 6 Photos generally tend to be stolen from other people. Performing a reverse
image search can find photos that have been taken from somewhere, or someone else
7 You’re asked to send money to someone you have not met face-to-face, either
ROMANCE SCAMS Ahead of Valentine’s Day, UK Finance’s Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign is warning people to stay alert to criminals posing as an online love interest.
4 There are spelling and grammar mistakes, inconsistencies in their stories and they
People are often given different reasons as to why the money is needed, with the three most common being:
PAY FOR AN EMERGENCY PAY FOR THE PERSON’S TRAVEL TO MEET THEM PAY ONE OF THEIR BILLS In this scam type, victims are often convinced to make multiple, generally smaller, payments to the criminal over a longer period of time compared to other fraud types. As a result, in the average romance scam case, the victim is tricked into making around nine payments, the highest of the main eight scam types.
through bank/money transfer or through the purchase of gift cards or presents such as phones and laptops. You may even be asked to provide them with access to your bank account or card
8 They try to persuade you to make an investment, often saying it is easy or guarantees high returns
9 Upon questioning a friend or family member, they may become very secretive about
their relationship or provide excuses for why their online partner has not video called or met them in person. They might become hostile or angry, and withdraw from conversation when you ask any questions about their partner
If you are talking to someone on a dating site, stay on the sites messaging service until you’re confident the person is who they say they are and ensure meetings in person take place in a public place. Online dating platforms have moderation and reporting processes in place to protect daters and remove scammers. If you believe you’ve fallen for a romance scam or any other type of scam, contact your bank immediately on a number you know to be correct, such as the one listed on your statement, their website or on the back of your debit or credit card.
YOU CAN REPORT A SCAM TO ACTION FRAUD VIA ACTIONFRAUD.POLICE.UK. *Source – UK Finance half year fraud report - www.ukfinance.org.uk Content courtesy of Take Five website
Try the Scam Savvy Quiz
Visit the TakeFive homepage
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What are parcel delivery scams and how do they work? Parcel delivery scams are messages that pretend to come from well known delivery companies such as DPD, Royal Mail or Parcelforce. The content, which is usually delivered via text message or email, may say that your package is delayed or will require a small payment to be delivered. These messages can often be difficult to tell apart from a real text or email. These messages will typically contain a link which will send you to a fake website, designed to look like it belongs to a genuine delivery company. On this website, you may then be asked to make a small payment, as well as providing your personal information (name, address and contact details) to ‘reschedule your delivery’.
Parcel Delivery Scams
Have you received some vouchers recently as a gift, which you would like to spend online? Or just enjoy a bit of online shopping to help get you through the winter nights? Online shopping can be extremely convenient. But it’s important to be very careful of any texts or emails you receive from companies notifying you that they’ve been unable to deliver your latest order. This could be a scam! In an age where we all want things instantly, the delay of a delivery can be incredibly frustrating. Often, we will do anything for an order to be with us as soon as possible. This frustration and impatience are what criminals of this scam thrive on and look to target.
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As part of its Scams Awareness campaign, research from Citizens Advice* in the first half of 2023 found that parcel delivery scams were by far the most common scam faced by the public.
49% of people targeted by scammers had been on the receiving end of a malicious parcel delivery scam.
Not only will you be out of pocket paying this pretend fee, but with your personal information provided, some criminals may go further by trying to process payments on your card. They will then call you pretending to be from your bank, claiming that there’s been unusual activity on your account. Scammers can sound very convincing, quoting your email and card details back to you. They may then try to persuade you that your bank account is no longer safe and that you will need to send your balance to a new account they’ve created for you.
Remember: no bank will ever ask you to move your money to keep it safe.
As described on page 5 – delivery scams are two prime examples of:
Phishing Phishing is where a fraudster will send an email which appears to be from a legitimate company, attempting to obtain personal details from you.
Smishing Just like vishing, fraudsters contact you by phone but instead of a phone call it is done using text messages where you are usually asked to follow a link or call a telephone number.
Alternatively, these texts or emails may also encourage you to download an app, stating your parcel will not be delivered unless you do so. The app is in fact malicious and contains spyware. If installed, it can steal your banking details, passwords, and other sensitive information. harpendenbs.co.uk
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How to spot a delivery scam
If you receive a ‘missed parcel’ message that looks suspicious:
Check carefully
Spelling errors
A scam text message will often arrive as a mobile number (i.e 07123 456789) rather than from an official source or company.
A common way to spot a scam is spelling or grammatical errors – check for mistakes or broken English. Check for United States spelling of words, or obvious incorrect punctuation.
Emails can also be sent. If this is the case, check the sender email address thoroughly. Scammers will often copy an official email address but make a very small amendment (for example, swapping an S with the number 5) to make it appear genuine.
They try to rush A scam will often try to get you to act quickly, ensuring you don’t have much time to think about what you are doing. If a message has a deadline set, this is usually suspicious.
Lacking details
Links and apps Many delivery scams will often persuade you to click on links or download an app. These are malicious with the sole purpose of obtaining your personal information. If you receive a message about a missed delivery, even if you’re expecting packages, always proceed with great caution and be very suspicious of requests for your personal information.
Most companies will not request a payment via text or email, or request you to download an app, so check on the company’s website (don’t use the link in the message) to see if this is something they would legitimately do.
• Do not click the link in the message, and do not install any apps if prompted. • Forward the message to 7726, a free spam-reporting service provided by phone operators. If you are not sure how to forward a text message from your particular device, search online for instructions. • Delete the message.
If you’re still unsure or want to safely check for missed parcels, use the official website of delivery companies to track your parcel, or contact the delivery company directly by using the contact details on their website.
Delivery scams are often vague and don’t specify what’s inside the parcel or where it is coming from.
*Citizens Advice research www.citizensadvice.org.uk 10
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How we can help with Go Red for Heart Month
Heart Month 2024 is here!
Any money raised, donations and the time they volunteer helps protect the people we love... our children, parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents and closest friends.
Support their campaigns
Find out about their current campaigns and how you can support them. With help, their researchers could find treatments and cures for heart and circulatory diseases sooner and keep families together longer.
Or make a donation
Your donations help them fund more groundbreaking research. Help them save and improve lives of families and loved ones by making a donation today.
Donate
Last year, BHF spent 80p in every £1 raised on lifesaving research.
During February, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) are asking people across the country to Go Red for Heart Month and support. The BHF currently fund around £100 million of research each year into all heart and circulatory diseases and the things that cause them. Heart diseases. Stroke. Vascular dementia. Diabetes. They’re all connected, and they’re all under the microscope.
CPR could save the life of a loved one if they have a cardiac arrest.
They raise money to research cures and treatments, so they can give people more time with the ones they love. Funding research is how they change the game. And we can all play a part. All donations help us support people with heart and circulatory diseases. 12
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Take part – Fundraising!
By raising money for them, you're funding research that gets us closer to cures and treatments. From climbing a mountain to baking biscuits, there are lots of ways you can help end heartbreak.
Fundraising
Give up your time - Volunteer
Volunteering with them is easy, flexible and inclusive. If you can spare any time, they have lots of different volunteer roles to choose from.
Volunteer
Find out more about BHF Events in 2024
£133m 7 million
During 2022-23, BHF invested £133m in delivering their charitable mission...
£99m
...including a net £99m in medical research. The balance was spent on helping families affected by heart and circulatory disease with support and information.
Content courtesy of British Heart Foundation
More than seven million people in the UK live with heart and circulatory diseases and these diseases are responsible for around a quarter of all deaths.
£1bn
BHF’s ambition is to invest over £1billion in cardiovascular research over the next 10 years. harpendenbs.co.uk
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Time to Talk Day is the nation’s biggest mental health conversation. Happening every year, it’s a day for friends, families, communities, and workplaces to come together to talk, listen and change lives.
Time to Talk Day is run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, in partnership with The Co-op.
How to start a conversation
We know the more conversations we have; the better life is for everyone. Talking about mental health isn’t always easy, but a conversation has the power to change lives. Mind and Rethink Mental Illness aim to support communities up and down the country to have more mental health conversations than ever before.
You don’t have to host a huge event to get the conversation going…every conversation matters. Here are some ideas to get you started:
We wanted to show our support for Time to Talk day, but also to highlight the continued importance of mental health and supporting each other on a daily basis…it’s not just about 1 day!
Content courtesy of Mind.org.uk 14
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Tips for talking There’s no right or wrong way to talk about mental health. But these tips can help make sure you’re approaching the conversation in a helpful way.
Ask questions and listen Asking questions can give the person space to express how they’re feeling and what they’re going through. And it can help you to understand their experience better. Try to ask questions that are open and not leading or judgmental. For example, “how does that affect you?” or “what does it feel like?”
Think about the time and place
Why talking is important…
Sometimes it’s easier to talk side by side rather than face to face. If you do talk in person, you might want to chat while doing something else. You could start a conversation when you’re walking, cooking or stuck in traffic. But don’t let the search for the perfect place put you off!
One in Four of us will experience a mental health problem in any given year.
Don’t try and fix it It can be hard to see someone you care about having a difficult time. Try to resist the urge to offer quick fixes to what they’re going through. Learning to manage or recover from a mental health problem can be a long journey. They’ve likely already considered lots of different tools and strategies. Just talking can be really powerful, so unless they’ve asked for advice directly, it might be best just to listen.
Treat them the same When someone has a mental health problem, they’re still the same person as they were before. When a friend or loved one opens up about mental health, they don’t want you to treat them any differently. If you want to support them, keep it simple. Do the things you’d normally do.
Be patient No matter how hard you try, some people might not be ready to talk about what they’re going through. That’s ok – the fact that you’ve tried to talk may make it easier for them to open up another time.
Talking about mental health reduces stigma, helping to create supportive communities where we can talk openly about mental health and feel empowered to seek help when we need it. That’s why opening up the conversation about mental health problems is so important – by talking about it we can support ourselves and others.
And don’t forget to get your workplace talking… Time to Talk Day is all about opening up the conversation about mental health. Whether it’s one-to-one or with a large group, there are countless ways we can get talking within the workplace.
Join the conversation on social media using #TimeToTalk. Mind Rethink Mental Illness Play interactive bingo! Time to Talk Day
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C E L E B R AT I N G
On 8th March 2024, the world will celebrate International Women's Day (IWD).
This is a day to challenge stereotypes of women, broaden perceptions of what is possible and celebrate women's achievements. IWD is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. Significant activity is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women's achievements or rally for women's equality.
IWD is one of the most important days of the year to: • Celebrate women's achievements • Educate and raise awareness for women's equality • Call for positive change advancing women • Lobby for accelerated gender parity • Fundraise for female-focused charities
How to get involved… • Attend any local events: Many cities host marches, workshops, conferences, and more in honour of IWD • Support Women-Owned Businesses: Make an effort to purchase from businesses owned and operated by women 16
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• Educate and raise awareness: Share stories, articles, and resources about women’s achievements and the challenges they face. • Wear purple: Purple is the official colour of International Women’s Day. Wearing it shows solidarity and support • Engage on social media: Use the official hashtags to join the conversation and amplify the voices of women worldwide.
Where Women work makes all the difference IWD provides a key moment to celebrate the achievements of women in the workplace and shine a light on the employers supporting them.
2024 campaign theme: #InspireInclusion When we inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion, we forge a better world.
And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there's a sense of belonging, relevance and empowerment. The aim of the IWD 2024 #InspireInclusion campaign is to collectively forge a more inclusive world for women. Everyone can inspire inclusion. Organizations, groups, and individuals worldwide can all play a part - in the community, at work, at home, and beyond. To truly include women means to openly embrace their diversity of race, age, ability, faith, body image, and how they identify. Worldwide, women must be included in all fields of endeavour.
Are you in? Will you inspire inclusion? Strike the #InspireInclusion pose to show solidarity. When we truly value difference, inclusion comes from the heart. Inspire others to help forge an inclusive world by sharing your #InspireInclusion image across social media using #IWD2024 #InspireInclusion. We are extremely proud and grateful for all the incredible work our female employees do every day!
Our Female colleagues...
11 2 1 24 25
in management roles on The Board on our Leadership Team part time colleagues full time colleagues
Statistics current as at January 2024.
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A little bit of housekeeping… In addition to any regulatory communication we may send you regarding your savings account(s) or mortgage - we deliver two categories of email communication to members…
Marketing campaigns • Can include promotion of our products • Product launches and criteria changes
WE’D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR STORIES… We welcome our members to send us any stories to include them in future editions… send our editors any of the below: • Any fundraising achievements • Any volunteering or community support you have provided • Or let us know if there is any specific advice or content you would like us to talk about? Maybe protection online or digital advice… Send us your content, details and any photos or images… we’d love to hear from you. Contact the team: members@harpendenbs.co.uk Or via post: Editorial team, Harpenden Building Society, Mardall House, 9-11 Vaughan Road, Harpenden AL5 4HU 20
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Membership messaging • Mutual e-magazine • Membership email campaigns • Improvements or upgrades to our service to members • Customer surveys • Opportunity to review on Smart Money People
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MUTUAL E-MAGAZINE FROM
HARPENDEN BUILDING SOCIETY? We are proud to be an independent Mutual Building Society. The moment you successfully open a personal savings account with us, or take out a mortgage, you become a member. That is why we have decided to launch this e-magazine. We believe the content within each issue is a benefit to our members; containing regular information
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We aim to produce and deliver on a regular basis and also provide you with frequent email campaigns in between issues - containing content we believe is informative and a benefit to our members. harpendenbs.co.uk
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e-magazine survey Mutual is our brand-new e-magazine for you, our members. Mutual will update you with our latest news and provide informative and topical content which we feel will be of interest and value to you. IS MUTUAL E-MAGAZINE JUST A MARKETING CAMPAIGN FROM HARPENDEN?
No absolutely not. We consider the e-magazine and any related email campaigns associated with relevant content as membership messaging we won’t constantly bombard you with information promoting our products. However at times we may occasionally inform members about our product range and explain savings products in general. I HAVE RECEIVED MEMBERSHIP AND/OR MARKETING
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SENDING THESE EMAILS TO ME? We had your email address on record from previous correspondence with you or at your account opening stage and for marketing campaigns - your current preferences were set to opt in to receive. The communication we send to you we believe is a benefit to our members – however, if you would like to unsubscribe - you can unsubscribe 22
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*Smart Money People - prize draw Prize draw terms and conditions: There is no cost to be in with the chance of winning £100; simply complete the online feedback form including your contact details, or alternatively you can complete a form after receiving a service in one of our branches. The email address or phone number you provide may be used by us to respond to your reviews, so we can further improve your experience with us, but will not be used for marketing purposes. The prize will be allocated by cheque on a monthly basis and the winner will be notified by email or telephone within five working days. The closing date for completed feedback is the 26th of the month prior to the draw e.g. 26th February will be the closing date for the draw in March. The winner’s identity will remain confidential unless you give explicit consent otherwise. You must be aged 18 or over and entries are limited to 1 per customer, per month. Employees and board members of Harpenden Building Society are not eligible to enter. harpendenbs.co.uk
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