Our first proper meeting of 2023 was an on-line meeting with a speaker from NatWest Bank plc talking about staying safe from scams and fraud, many of which come into our computers on a regular basis.
Mark Mullally is a Customer Support Specialist and set the scene with a definition of what is a scam and what is a fraud. In an extremely well delivered talk, illustrated with useful slides, we had a detailed picture of the different types of scam and fraud, how they are operated, and the tell-tale signs that help us identify what is going on.
Many members have experienced the emails announcing lottery wins, donations from legacies and the like that arrive in our inboxes, but fewer of us have had experience of investment scams, pension theft scams, delivered goods not actually delivered, ill-health-of-close-relative scams and romance scams. Mark was able to explain in straightforward terms how the criminals set about gaining our trust, and then how they can empty our savings accounts in their favour. He also explained what we need to do and when to do it.
All the members of the Club found this talk extremely helpful, and after the talk there were many questions and reports of experiences. Many links to helpful websites and documents were also provided.
Perhaps the most useful element were the steps that we need to undertake as soon as we suspect something is going wrong. This was an excellent start to 2023, and the Club were most grateful for this practical and easy to follow advice.
