Kingston based business, Holland Hahn & Wills, are expert financial planers who have been providing financial advise to residents in and around the area for over 30 years.

Jason Lurie, a Chartered Financial Planner and Wealth Manager at HH&W's, focused his latest blog on scams, and how to stay clear of them. Read on for his top tips for keeping your finances secure from an ever-growing threat.

Today I wanted to chat briefly about scams, as the subject is close to my heart, for two reasons.

Firstly, it is just under two and a half years since my dad passed away, and I was reflecting on his later years, which reminded me of the fact that he had been scammed out of all his life savings a few years ago, and I was unable to help until it was too late – he was living abroad, had Alzheimer's (which I wasn't aware of) and was systematically abused by fraudsters – this is another reason why at Holland Hahn & Wills we are very keen to see that our clients arrange lasting powers of attorney in addition to their wills.

Secondly, because a couple of weeks ago I was very nearly scammed myself by a text from my bank NatWest – which wasn't. Two days before I had been expecting a package and had received a text from Royal Mail that seemed suspicious. On this day I had just woken up from a nap when I received the text from NatWest saying that they believed fraudulent dealings had occurred in my account and I should telephone them, which led me down a rabbit hole and almost caused me to hand over money, fortunately, the light bulb switched on in time (a little dim perhaps) and I avoided being scammed, however, it was close.

What is a scam?

Scams can come in many forms, but all are designed to get hold of your money.

They do this by getting you to reveal your personal details, stealing your information, or even tricking you into willingly handing over the cash.

It's important to know how to recognise a scam so you can protect yourself from fraudsters.

Scammers have become more sophisticated in recent years, and scams can be hard to spot, so much so that at Holland Hahn & Wills we undergo regular scam avoidance training twice a year, simply to keep up with scam innovations and to remind ourselves of what to look out for.

Types of scams

The tactics used by scammers and fraudsters can vary from someone knocking on your door to an unexpected email or phone call.

The internet and advances in digital communications have opened other ways for scammers to target you and steal information.

Chances are, you've come across the most common type of scams – the spam email from a Nigerian prince or pretending to be from HMRC or your bank.

However, while some email scams can be quite easy to spot and avoid, others are much more sophisticated.

Recognising a scam

• Unsolicited or unexpected contact – If you've received any kind of contact, but particularly a phone call, out of the blue, it is best to avoid it. Since January 2019, there has been a ban on cold calling about pensions. This means you should not be contacted by any company about your pension unless you've asked them to.
• Email address – If you get an email, expand the pane at the top of the message and see exactly who it has come from, it could say it's from TV Licensing but if you click or hover over the name it might reveal something different. If it's a scam, the email address the message has come from might not match up with the sender's name, have misspellings, random numbers or be from one of your contacts that's been hacked.
• Text messages – Modern scammers can make their numbers look like one you trust, like your bank's. The scam text message might even appear in the same conversation as legitimate texts you've had before. This is known as 'number spoofing'. Just in case, avoid clicking links in text messages, and don't be afraid to contact the company directly to check it's a real message. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. This is something you normally find with pension or investment scams, where the fraudster guarantees you huge returns, but tells you it is low risk.
• Personal details, full PIN codes and passwords. These are things no legitimate company will ask you for.
• Quick decisions. If you are pushed into making a decision on the spot, be suspicious. Scammers don't want you to have time to think about it. Any legitimate company who calls you won't mind if you hang up and call them back later. Use the phone number you find on letters from the company or the back of your card.
• Random competitions, particularly if you don't remember entering them, should ring alarm bells.

How to protect yourself against scams

• Avoid any unexpected contact. Avoid answering phone calls, letters or emails if they look unfamiliar. If you're a customer of the company use the contact details given to you in official paperwork or on their website to check if the person approaching you is legitimate.
• Never give out personal information. This can be used to steal your identity and access accounts. You should never share your full PIN or password with anyone. Your bank will ask you to use a card reader or ask for a few digits of your password if they need it.
• Keep your home computer's operating system and virus protection software up to date. Don't ignore updates as these can often include patches to protect against new kinds of scams, viruses and ransomware. This goes for mobile devices as well.
• Make sure all your accounts have strong passwords. Don't use the same password for multiple accounts and change them regularly.
• Don't make any advanced payments until you are sure the company you're dealing with is legitimate.
• Scammers can hijack phone lines. If you think you're being targeted, hang up the phone, wait five minutes and then call your bank directly.
• Never transfer money to a 'holding account'. This is a common scam. Someone will call you pretending to be from your bank's fraud team and ask you to transfer your money over to a safe account to protect it. But, if you do that, you are just sending a scammer your savings.
• If you're unsure about a financial services company, check the FCA register of regulated companies. If they're not on it, don't have anything to do with them.
• If you're unsure about any other kind of company, you can look them up on Companies House to find out their background, or search for reviews online.
• Use safe and secure Wi-Fi connections and avoid public Wi-Fi___33. Your standard 3G or 4G or 5G connection is often more secure than the one in the coffee shop or restaurant.
• Make sure any websites you are using are secure. Check to see if the web address starts with HTTPS, not just HTTP.
• Sign-up for a call blocking service like the Telephone Preference Service This might not stop all scam calls as they operate outside the legal guidelines, but it will stop cold-callers. This means any suspicious or unexpected calls you do receive are almost certainly from people you don't want to deal with.
• The FCA's ScamSmart website has a tool to help you check if an investment or pension opportunity is a scam.

At Holland Hahn & Wills, we will never recommend that you rush into any financial decisions. We don't handle client money and all recommendations are made via secure messaging or password protected emails.

If you want to know more about how our financial planning process can help you, or perhaps want a second opinion on your own planning or investment strategy please get in touch: 020 8943 9229 or visit our site at www.hhw-uk.com.

Holland Hahn & Wills are sponsors of Kingston Nub News. 

Without support from local community-minded businesses like them we would not be able to provide the dedicated local news we do every week, thank you.