Police in North Wales have today said that elaborate Covid scams are still being regularly reported.

In a recent example an innocent victim received a text message believed to be from NHS stating that they had been exposed to Covid and further advising that they needed to order an urgent PCR test.    

The victim believing this to be a genuine message from the NHS clicked on the link which took them to a website where they ordered a PCR test and paid a small fee which they thought was to cover postage costs.

A few days later the victim received a call from a person purporting to be from their Bank advising that there was a virus on their phone and enquired about their accounts. They instructed the victim to log into their online banking account and to change their password.    

The victim soon realised that £55,000 had been taken from their bank account.

In this and similar cases the criminals obtain the victim’s details including name, address, phone number and Bank details from the form that the victim fills in on the malicious website when they believe that they are ordering the PCR test from the NHS.

They have accessed the malicious website by clicking on the malicious link on the fake NHS e-mail.

Please be careful and also make sure that your family, friends and neighbours know about Covid scams such as this one and the potential consequences of clicking on malicious links in fake scam e-mails.

To report any scam or suspicious email or message please call North Wales Police on 101.