Nora Johnson: Have you been conned by scammers yet?

Every day, millions of people get bogus “419” emails (so-called after a section of Nigeria’s legal code) promising millions. Police estimate the average loss in the UK alone is £35,000+.

The sender poses as a banker, official, royal toadie (even fleeing Ukrainian refugee) wanting to move huge sums your way. There’s no money to be moved – except yours!

Additionally, fraudsters have taken advantage of the summer holidays to swindle parents out of thousands of pounds, using a “Hi Mum” text scam posing as their children who’ve “lost their phone”. Basically, victims receive a message from a random number purporting to be a son/daughter who’s lost their phone. Once parents are convinced they’re speaking to their child and save the number onto their phone, scammers ask them to send money claiming it’s needed to pay off debts.

 Call me a cynic but this got me thinking about all the other internet scams so cutthroat they make a Siberian gulag look like a Swiss Finishing School.

It’s often said a fool and his money are soon parted. Hardly! At this cost-of-living-crisis time, a fool and his money are lucky to get together in the first place…

Nora Johnson’s critically acclaimed psychological crime thrillers (www.nora-johnson.net) all available online including eBooks (€0.99;£0.99), Apple Books, audiobooks, paperbacks at Amazon etc. Profits to Cudeca cancer charity.

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