The post Cost of Living Crisis scams appeared first on The Loughborough Building Society.
]]>Scammers are taking advantage of people affected by the current rise in living costs, pretending to be government officials or energy companies and offering bogus rebates, grants, and other support payments.
As you can imagine, this has sadly left people who are already struggling even more worse off.
To help prevent you and your loved ones from becoming a victim of Cost-of-Living scams, we’ve put together a list of current scams that fraudsters are using and the steps you can take to avoid them.
The Government have been giving cost-of-living payments to help millions of households in the UK.
The payments are sent automatically to all who were eligible, with no application necessary.
This however didn’t stop fraudsters sending texts, pretending to be from the Government or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), asking people to apply for the payment.
Some of the people who received these scam texts also received a follow-up email asking them to call a fake number where they were asked to provide even more sensitive and financial information.
These kinds of messages are commonly known as smishing scams with scammers aiming to get as much private information out of you as possible, such as banking details or passwords.
To prevent yourself from becoming a victim of a smishing attack, it’s best not to give out private information and not to reply to text messages, download attachments or click on any links in emails unless you’re sure it’s from a genuine contact.
If you believe that you’ve been targeted by a cost-of-living payment phishing scam, you can:
Scammers are pretending to be local governments and are using a recent £150 council tax rebate to ask people to apply for the money by passing on their banking details over the phone.
These kinds of phone calls are commonly known as vishing scams. Vishing is when scammers try to trick victims into giving up sensitive information like credit card numbers, bank account details and passwords, over the phone
The rebate, however, is paid automatically to those who pay their council tax by direct debit, and most of these people should have received their payment by now.
Local councils have urged households not to give out any sensitive information and advised people if they get a call which doesn’t look genuine to hang up and call their local council directly using the contact number on their website.
It’s not just governments, scammers are also pretending to be the energy regulator Ofgem texting households inviting them to apply for a £400 rebate to help them pay for their heating bills.
Ofgem will never text you to offer a rebate, so don’t respond or click on any links if you receive these types of texts.
If you think you’ve been a victim of one of these scams get in touch with Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or call the police on 101 and call your bank directly if you’ve shared any of your account details. Action Fraud also have more information on cost of living crisis scams here https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/criminals-are-using-the-cost-of-living-crisis-to-scam-the-public-dont-become-a-victimction Fraud
For more information on how to report fraud visit https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/scams/reporting-a-scam/
For more information on the types of scams and how to protect yourself from fraudulent activities visit https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/
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]]>The post Managing your money through the cost of living crisis appeared first on The Loughborough Building Society.
]]>To help you through the Cost-of-Living Crisis. we’ve put together some tips which could help you manage your money more effectively.
What’s on this page?
Be smarter when shopping for goods
Save on your gas and electricity bills
Help if you’re struggling to pay your energy bills.
Help managing your mortgage payments
Getting help if debt problems become serious
A budget will help keep your spending in check, help ensure that you don’t spend any money that you don’t have and help shed light on any bad spending habits.
To set up a budget you’ll first need to work out how much you spend each month on:
All this information then needs to be recorded in a budget planner.
Money Helper has a handy free budget planner which gives you a detailed breakdown of your spending https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/everyday-money/budgeting/budget-planner
A budget planner helps show you where your money is being spent and could help identify areas you can make adjustments and save money.
To help review your finances you could keep a spending diary and note down all that you spend in a month, or you could simply look at your latest debit or credit card statement.
By having a record, you can identify any unnecessary spending, i.e., an unused gym membership or magazine subscriptions or regular takeaways or meals out.
You can then work how much you can save each month by cutting out on these costs.
From gas and electricity to mobile phones and internet, the cost of household bills has continued to rise, however there are ways to reduce your monthly bills.
For example, you can
Being smarter when shopping for goods can help you save money each month, one of the ways you can save on goods is when you do your weekly grocery shopping.
Instead of buying a branded product try a supermarkets own brand or their value brand to save money, more often than not, the only noticeable difference between these brands is the packaging!
With increasing food prices, keeping your weekly food shopping bill on budget has become a lot more difficult.
However, there are plenty of ways to help keep those costs down, from planning your meals to batch cooking, ensuring you and your family don’t have to skip meals.
For tips and advice on how you can save with your weekly food shop visit https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/save-money-food-meals.aspx
There are a few changes you can make around the house to help cut down your gas and electricity bills including switching off devices that you’re currently not using at the plug, turning down the thermostat by a degree or two and washing clothes at lower temperatures.
For some useful energy saving tips visit https://helpforhouseholds.campaign.gov.uk/energy-saving-advice/
Another way of saving money on your energy bills is to shop around for a cheaper energy tariff. The best way of finding cheaper tariffs is with Ofgem-accredited price comparison website such as Money Supermarket or Uswitch.
With a comparison website you’ll be able to find out what you can save by switching providers. If you find a cheaper offer elsewhere, you could also ask your current provider if they’ll match that offer.
For more information on switching energy providers visit https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/switching-energy-tariff-or-supplier
Uswitch also have a have a handy guide that offers advice on the ins and outs of switching energy suppliers https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/how-to-switch-gas-and-electricity/
If you’re falling behind with your energy bills and risk getting into debt, there are numerous options available to you, from contacting your supplier to get help with payments to various government schemes and grants.
Citizens Advice has a really handy guide on the help and support available for people struggling with their energy bills https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/get-help-paying-your-bills/struggling-to-pay-your-energy-bills/
It’s important to have an emergency fund in case something goes wrong, this could cover you in the event of an unexpected financial blow and could help prevent you from going into debt.
By putting some money in an easy access savings account each month where possible, you’ll have access to emergency funds when you most need it.
With rising prices, meeting monthly mortgage payments could become difficult.
If money does become tight and you’re worried about keeping up with your mortgage payments, it’s best to get in touch with your lender to discuss your payment options as soon as possible.
If the worst happens and you do unfortunately go into debt, it’s best to seek support straight away.
There is plenty of free and confidential advice out there to help you from charities such as:
Payplan – 0800 280 2816 www.payplan.com
National Debtline – 0808 808 4000 www.nationaldebtline.org
Step Change Debt Charity – 0800 138 1111 www.stepchange.org
Money Helper also has lots of useful advice and guidance on dealing with debt https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/money-troubles/dealing-with-debt
For more advice and support with managing your money please visit
https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en
https://helpforhouseholds.campaign.gov.uk/
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]]>The post Challenging times and the cost of living appeared first on The Loughborough Building Society.
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