How to spot scams and stay out of trouble

Scam emails are fake messages designed to trick you into sharing personal, financial, or account information. They can be very convincing.

Fake emails often look at first glance as if they’ve come from a genuine email address.

Look closely for subtle differences. For example, our emails come from Lowell.co.uk, but a scammer might use lowel.co.uk.

Real-life example of a fake email

Sometimes the difference is not so subtle, like in this example of a fake email sent to a Lowell customer.

Here, the scammer has used a Gmail address instead of a .com or .co.uk address: lowellfinancialgroup@gmail.com

Scammers often use urgent or threatening language to get you to do something quickly without thinking about it.

‘You must change your bank details now or your account will be suspended’ is a common type of command, making you think that you need to leap into action at once. Don’t fall for it.

Real-life example of a fake email

‘We just would like to tell you that we have received a legal complaint against you from your creditors, where you are not making the contractual payments or managing just minimum payments to your creditors.’

Here, the scammer is trying to scare you by saying ‘we have received a legal complaint’.

Real-life example of a fake email

‘If you fail to make any arrangements, according to the Social Security Contributions & Benefits Act 1992, we have to contact your Employer to attach these debts to your wages or your benefits will be stopped for the next 6 months by the Department of Work & Pensions.'

How you can tell it’s a fake email

This is a threat. If you don’t do what we want, we will tell your employer.

Our emails are free of spelling and grammatical errors. Look for inconsistencies, too. Random capitals or words that should start with a capital but don’t. That kind of thing.

We often include links in our emails. For example, to our Budget Calculator.

Check that the URL starts with lowell.co.uk/

(Our Budget Calculator link is lowell.co.uk/help-and-support/budget-calculator/)

If an email asks you to update personal details by following a link, it’s likely a scam. Go directly to our website instead.

We do not send emails to customers asking them to electronically sign documents. If you get an email asking you to do this, please ignore it.

If you get an email from someone claiming to be working on our behalf and there is no clear reference to Lowell or our solicitors, it’s most likely a scam. Call us using the number on our contact us page.

I trust this message finds you in good health. My name is [XXX XXXX], representing the National Debt Help. I am writing to formally notify you of a matter of utmost importance. We have received a legal complaint on behalf of the following institutions: LANTERN LTD SAFETY NET LTD LOWELL FINANCIAL GROUP LTD MOORCROFT FINANCIAL GROUP LTD This complaint pertains to the non-compliance with contractual payments and the subsequent classification of all associated accounts as defaults. Consequently, these entities are contemplating the initiation of legal proceedings in the form of a County Court Judgment (CCJ) against you.

How you can tell it’s a fake

Here, the scammer claims to represent something called ‘the National Debt Help’. It almost sounds plausible, but it doesn’t exist. The scammer lists three debt companies, including Lowell. This is in the hope that you’ll have a debt with at least one of the companies and will therefore think that the email is legitimate. It’s not. They’re just trying to trick you into giving away your details.

There are tell-tale signs in this example:  the way they say ‘formally notify you’ to make you think it’s an official email; the use of ‘a matter of utmost importance’ to try and scare you into acting without thinking; and the threat to start legal proceedings.

Ours start with www.lowell.co.uk. Look for any added characters or missing letters.

A secure site has a padlock icon in the address bar. Click on it to check whether it’s real or just an image: the real thing should open to reveal more information about the site.

Fake sites often have non-functional links because criminals trying to fool you don’t tend to build fake websites: they build fake web pages. Try navigating to other pages using the links and tabs on the page and those in the footer of the page.

Another giveaway. Legitimate sites rarely have spelling or grammatical mistakes. Be cautious if you see any.

• You could check your caller ID to see what number’s calling you (all Lowell numbers start with 0333). If it’s anything else, it’s not a call from Lowell.
• But the problem here is that some scammers can also call or text you from a number that looks like it’s one of our 0333 numbers.
• If you’re suspicious of a call from someone claiming to be from Lowell, say that you’ll call them back using the number from our website.
• If it’s a genuine Lowell agent calling you, they’ll be happy for you to do that. Don’t just automatically call back the number they’ve called you from: hang-up and use the number on our Contact Us page.

Find out more about who called you from Lowell.

Even if the caller appears legitimate, do not give them your:

• Name, address, and date of birth (a legitimate caller already knows this).
• Bank details (we never ask for these over the phone unless you call us).
• Lowell reference number (fraudsters can use this to seem legitimate).

If you think you’re talking to a scam caller, don’t waste your time talking to them – just hang up.

Remember, you're in control

Remember, when someone’s called you asking for information, you’re in control. You don’t have to give out any information or – just as importantly – confirm any details that the caller may know. That could just be another way of fooling you into thinking they’re on the level.

How to know you're talking to Lowell

There are a couple of basic things you can do to make sure you’re really talking to us at Lowell:

• Say you’re not prepared to give the caller any information without calling Lowell first (and that includes confirming your name) – anyone calling from Lowell will have no problem with this. But a scam caller may object and try to stop you from doing this.
• Call us using the number on our Contact Us page – do not just hang up and call back on the number the caller has used.

For more information about getting in touch with us, visit our FAQs guide on 'What's Lowell's contact number?'