Smishing: It's the UK's fastest growing scam - with Herts Police reporting a staggering 762 cases of residents in our area receiving dodgy texts attempting to steal their person and financial information.

Smishing is where cyber thieves issues fraudulent text messages - and in some cases even use actors, complete with ambient bank noise, during phone calls - in a bid to trick people into giving them access to personal details including bank accounts.

The name Smishing comes from an amalgam of SMS (texts) and fishing (for personal details). Victims will get a seemingly innocuous text message supposedly from a company who are aware of, or might have dealings with. For example relating to shipping and packages, complete with a link.

Never click on that link as it will take you to a criminal website, where they will attempt to gather personal and financial information about you.

Only this month, Action Fraud informed officers they received 752 reports in four days relating to fake emails purporting to be from Ofgem.

The emails state that the recipient is eligible for a rebate as a result of a newly announced government scheme. The link in the emails and texts lead to genuine-looking websites that are designed to steal your personal and financial information.

Herts Police have issued advice on how to spot a scam and protect yourself against this type of fraud.

Officers said: "Please beware clicking on links in emails, as the email sender may not be who they claim. To visit an organisation's website, use their published website address. 

"Please remember that your bank, or any other official organisation, won't ask you to share personal information over email or text. If you need to check that it's a genuine message, contact the company using details from their official website or app." 

Spotted a suspicious email? Forward it to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) - [email protected]