Diesel car owners are being urged to stay alert after thousands have been targeted by fake 'emissions' emails claiming they are owed up to £16,000 in compensation. The worrying warning has just been issued by the team at Action Fraud with the UK security experts saying that those duped into clicking on links could end up giving hackers access to personal information including bank data.
The issue appears to be significant, with almost 5,000 reports being sent to Action Fraud's scam hotline. 'Scam alert, over 4,800 people have reported receiving FAKE emails claiming that diesel car users are eligible for thousands of pounds in compensation," Action Fraud said in a post of X (formerly Twitter ).
If you own a diesel car and get an email suggesting you are owed money due to the 'diesel emissions scandal', you'd be wise to ignore it. "The emails instruct recipients to share their personal information via links provided in the email, in order to check if they are eligible for the compensation," Action Fraud explained.
"The links in the email lead to malicious websites that are designed to steal personal and financial information.". Action Fraud says that anyone receiving these messages should find out which company has sent them and get in touch via their official website. Don't ring or message via the contact data in the email, as this could be fake.
