UK FINANCE WARNS PUBLIC TO BEWARE OF PARCEL DELIVERY SCAMS IN RUN UP TO CHRISTMAS

UK Finance is warning consumers to be vigilant against criminals looking to defraud them by posing as parcel delivery companies, as more people across the country are expected to shop online this Christmas than ever before.

Intelligence from UK Finance suggests that criminals are sending out phishing emails, purportedly from well-known delivery companies, which claim that they have been unable to deliver parcels, packages or large letters. These emails may ask the recipient to pay a fee or provide additional details in order to rearrange the delivery.

The public should also be aware of an increased risk of scam phone calls and texts impersonating delivery companies, as well as fake delivery notices posted through letterboxes. Similarly, these will ask for advance payment or for customers to provide information that is later used to defraud them.

Customers are advised to follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign.

Katy Worobec, Managing Director of Economic Crime at UK Finance, said:

?Unscrupulous criminals will stop at nothing to commit fraud and that includes exploiting the festive season to target their victims.

?With more of us than ever expecting to send and receive gifts by the post this Christmas, criminals are looking to cash in by sending scam emails and text messages imitating parcel delivery companies. Often these scams will claim a parcel hasn't been delivered as a way to trick people into giving away their personal and financial details, which are then used to commit fraud.

?We are urging people not to give a gift to fraudsters this Christmas and to follow the advice of the Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign. Always take a moment to stop and think before parting with your information or money and avoid clicking on links in an email or text message in case it's a scam.?

MORE THAN 60 PER CENT OF ENGLAND FACES TOUGHEST COVID RESTRICTIONS

The health secretary Matt Hancock announced in the House of Commons yesterday that London and the south-east  - ten million people ? will enter tier three measures from tomorrow (The Guardian, p1).  This will bring the total number of people under the strictest rules to 34 million, equivalent to more than 60 per cent of England.

The news of the tier three restrictions has caused anguish amongst businesses who had only just reopened following the easing of the national lockdown two weeks ago, with hospitality bosses warning that it will cost 150,000 jobs and losses of up to £2.6 billion in London (Daily Telegraph, £, p1). The chancellor Rishi Sunak is facing urgent demands for further economic support for businesses.

Meanwhile, as much as £21 billion of government-backed Covid lending, half of the total lent under the bounce back loan scheme, is sitting unused in firms? bank accounts as customers exercise caution, according to senior banking executives at a Treasury Select Committee yesterday (Daily Telegraph, £, B1).  

Separately, according to the Office for National Statistics, redundancies reached a record high of 370,000 in the three months to October, with the unemployment rate reaching 4.9 per cent, up from 4.8 per cent in the same time period - its highest in more than four years (Reuters).

NEWS IN BRIEF

The government is to announce its Online Harms Bill today, which will see the online regulator, Ofcom, gaining power over blocking access to online services that fail to do enough to protect children and other users (BBC News). The regulator will also be able to fine social media firms, however the proposals do not include measures to target online scams or introduce criminal sanctions.

A two-year inquiry by a commission set up by the trade union Community and think tank the Fabian Society has found that 61 per cent of jobs furloughed in the first half of 2020 were at the highest risk of automation (Financial Times, £, p2).

The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier told MEPs and ambassadors in Brussels yesterday that for the first time the British government had ?accepted a mechanism of unilateral measures? including tariffs (The Guardian, p1). The hopes of a deal resulted in the pound jumping more than one cent, or 1.4 per cent, against a weakening dollar in morning trading yesterday, hitting $1.34, before settling later at $1.33 (The Guardian, p29).

UK and European industry groups are calling on the government to allow a phased introduction of new trade arrangements after Brexit (Daily Telegraph, £, online only).

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