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Clubs, Groups and Societies For discussions about various clubs, groups and societies relating to our hobbies, such as the BVWS (incl RetroTechUK), BATC, RSGB, APTS, CLPGS, THG, TCC, BECG, MCR21 etc. This is NOT an official forum for any of these organisations.

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Old 17th Jan 2018, 3:14 pm   #1
beamcurrent
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Default Internet fraud attack foiled

INTERNET FRAUD ATTACK FOILED

Brian Summers, G8GQS
BATC Hon. Treasurer

The British Amateur Television Club (BATC) received a quite convincing email purporting to be from our Chairman and asking for a payment to be made to a supplier via BACs. Bank account and sort code details were provided and it looked legitimate. As you might expect the BATC often makes such payments so nothing appeared unusual. Larger transactions are discussed at committee beforehand and I (as Treasurer) normally need invoices etc to support payments.
But as the amount was quite significant and as I had no prior knowledge of the transaction, I asked the BATC Chairman to phone me for confirmation. Fortunately, this exposed the attempted fraud and avoided any loss.

The important thing to note was that the email was very convincing, normal looking, and containing proper-looking names and correct email addresses etc.

BATC understands that other, comparable organisation have also been targeted, and that at least one lost a substantial amount of money. It seems that this is – or may become – a common form of attack on small societies and clubs. I would recommend that all amateur radio clubs check and double-check all payments before they are made in order to avoid potentially catastrophic losses.

We must ALL be constantly vigilant.

Postscript; another such attack arrived this very morning. The BATC being an an "open" club publishes committee details on it's website and this may be were the information customising the said attack email was obtained!

WWW.BATC.ORG.UK
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Old 17th Jan 2018, 3:22 pm   #2
paulsherwin
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Default Re: Internet fraud attack foiled

You should always request confirmation before transferring any money, no matter how convincing the email appears to be. In this case you did the right thing. The fraudsters play a numbers game with these attacks, knowing that a minority of people will simply transfer funds on the basis of the initial request.
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