Angus residents are being warned about a new “professional looking” email scam.
Westmuir resident Donald Innes received the official-looking email from what purported to be a prominent Forfar business.
The email asks the recipient to open and review an attached document.
A phone number in the email had a Forfar area code, along with a mobile number and fax number. Neither the landline or the mobile number were genuine.
Mr Innes said: “Of course, I’ve had these kinds of emails before, and I’ve always just deleted them, but this was different.
“The fact that it appears to come from not only a genuine firm, but a local one, could quite easily fool someone. A person named in the email does actually work at the firm too.
“Obviously, this is not the fault of the company concerned, but I think people should be aware that these more sophisticated scams are starting to do the rounds.”
Although Mr Innes did not click on the attachment, the fact he had work done on his property recently, gave him pause.
The Forfar firm named in the scam, but not responsible for it, declined to comment.
Mark Hodgkinson, Adult Protection and Review Officer for Angus Council said: “We keep hearing about increasing numbers of attempts via email by con-artists and fraudsters to get hold of personal information such as bank details and internet passwords.
“The scammers are becoming ever more sophisticated.
“Sometimes they pretend to be from large public bodies, such as the Inland Revenue or Department of Work and Pensions, or from banks or building societies.
“Now we are hearing of scammers pretending to be from local companies sending emails bearing bogus local phone numbers.
“We strongly advise all Angus citizens to be on their guard against these scammers.
“Never open any attachment, or file attached to an email unless you are absolutely certain where it came from.
“If you do open one of these, there is every chance you could end up having to undertake the time consuming job of changing all your passwords and decontaminating your computer.
“Worse still, you could end up finding money going missing from your bank account”.
See our Scam Free Angus pages for more information about scams, including current scam warnings and how to report a scam.
Forfar and District Conservative Councillor Braden Davy said: “It is very worrying news that local companies are finding themselves impacted by new online scams.
“People need to be extra vigilant and cautious towards anything they see online, and double check where possible, especially if this involved the transfer of money.
“It is a shame that scammers continue to try new and inventive ways to steal from others, and that’s why we must be alert to the risk whenever we are online”
