Five minutes is all it will take to help guard yourself against online fraud, police have said.
Derbyshire Police are backing the national campaign, "take five" week, run by Financial Fraud Action UK, which aims to stop people falling victim to the online scammers, potentially leaving them financially out of pocket.
As part of the campaign, the force wants people to follow a three-point rule to follow, which it takes just five minutes to familiarise yourself with.
Police then want people to share the three-point rule with five other people to help stop internet fraud.
The three tips are:
1. A genuine bank or organisation will never contact you out of the blue to ask for your PIN number, full password or to move money to another account.
You should only give out your personal or financial details to use a service that you have given your consent to, that you trust and that you are expecting to be contacted by.
2. Do not be tricked into giving a fraudster access to your personal details. You should never automatically click on a link in an email or text that you were not expecting to receive.
3. Always question uninvited approaches in case it is a scam. Rather than directly engaging with an approach, you should contact the company directly using a known email or phone number.
If you do call, make sure you ring from a different phone or wait for at least three minutes before ringing the different number. This will then make sure the potential fraudster is not still on the line.
Detective Inspector Debbie King, who leads the economic crime unit at Derbyshire police said: "Keeping yourself safe can seem like a daunting prospect – but by keeping a simple, memorable phrase in mind then the chances of becoming a victim are far lower.
"Whenever you are asked – whether on the phone, via your computer or in person – remember, 'my money, my info, I don't think so'.
"Fraudsters will often target the most vulnerable members of society and it is important that everyone helps spread the message about how to stay safe.
"Taking just five minutes out of your day to make others aware could make the difference between someone becoming a victim and not.
"If you are concerned that you, or someone you may know may have been a victim of a fraud you should contact your local police force on the non-emergency 101 number of by contacting Action Fraud on 0300 1232040."
In Staffordshire, efforts are being made by the Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis to tackle cybercrime.
The force is appealing for residents to report cyber crime, rather than completely ignoring it and potentially putting others at risk.
Figures for November 2017 show that 430 cases of fraud were reported in the county, a big increase from a little more than 300 for the same month in 2016.
Sue Arnold, the deputy police and crime commissioner said: "The rise in cyber crime and online fraud has been alarming. Hacking is a cottage industry on a global scale and we’ve all been having to play catch up.
"So it is important that businesses, commercial managers and general public are aware to the dangers of online fraud."
According to Derbyshire Police, the three most prevalent online fraud types seen in the county in the last three months of 2017 were computer update fraud, advance fee fraud and online shopping and auction site payment fraud.
The force has been keen to warn residents of these and offer their advice on how best to avoid them.
Computer update fraud
This relates to a criminal calling by phone posing as a computer company worker, stating there is a problem with their device.
They will try to get the victim to reveal their computer passwords, banking passwords and other data. Victims can end up locked out of their own device and their passwords taken which may be linked to various accounts.
The force has advised residents to make sure people are who they say they are, as officials from large companies will never contact you across the phone in this manner.
Hang up the phone, do not give any of your information and report the attempt to Action Fraud.
Advance fee fraud
This type of fraud asks people to put a deposit down to secure an item or services. Typically, this crime is also known as a 'West African letter'.
This is when you are told there is a large sum of money being held and a payment needs to be made to release the funds. When in actual fact, this is a fraud and there is actually no money at all.
The following advice has been given to avoid this: "If you receive a letter or correspondence of this kin do not reply. Do not click on any links in the scam email. Do not reply to the email or contact the senders in any way.
"If you have clicked on a link in the email, do not supply any information on the website that may open. Do not open any attachments that arrive with the email. Instead report it to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk/asov ."
Online shopping and auction site payment fraud
Fraudsters will sometimes try to direct online shoppers away from legitimate and trusted payment methods, like PayPal or Apple Pay, towards methods that are fairly unknown.
Shoppers can be tricked into paying money directly into someone else’s bank accounts, rather than where they are attempting to give it to.
Police Campaigns
Anyone looking to shop online safely is being advised that if they are purchasing items online never to move away from the legitimate payment methods used by the sites they are using.
A police spokesman said: "If you feel that a deal may be too good, or the price is far lower than the market level, reconsider your purchase. Always look at the sellers past history and comments – while this is not fool proof it will give you a good idea about the trust in that seller."
To report fraud go to www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud
