Humberside Police ‘The 12 online frauds of Christmas’ campaign

Kicking-off yesterday ‘Black Friday’ (Friday 28 November), which marks the start of the busiest four days of internet shopping of the year, police are doing everything they can to raise awareness of a dozen online frauds that have the potential to ruin your festive fun.

Working in partnership with the City of London Police, which is the National Policing Lead for Fraud, Humberside Police begin by shining a light on the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of online shopping.

So far in 2014 74 per cent of all adults nationwide have bought goods or services online, and this December around 50 per cent of UK citizens are expected to use the internet to buy more than half of their Christmas presents.

The good news is the majority of us will still have our presents delivered to our doorstep or into our email account without a hitch.

However, the sad reality is there will also be tens of thousands of people across the UK whose Christmas will be damaged, and in some cases destroyed, after finding out they have fallen foul of heartless criminals who specialise in tricking internet users with the promise of great online deals and big cash savings.

After ‘Black Friday’ we move on to ‘Cyber Monday’ (December 1) where the focus will be on the hazards of opening Christmas e-Cards sent via email which, unknown to the recipient, may be carrying a virus (malware) that can embed itself and then corrupt your smart phone, tablet or laptop.

And then, every 24 hours for the next ten working days, the force will be working with 37 other local police forces and a range of public and private sector organisations to flag up the threat of ten more online festive frauds, as identified by the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB).

To spread the word far and wide about ‘The 12 online frauds of Christmas’ campaign Humberside Police will be talking to local people and sharing top safety tips via traditional and social media and through our own community engagement teams. More internet safety advice can also be found at www.getsafeonline.org and www.cyberstreetwise.com