Waspi women face a “dangerous” rise in fraudsters offering fake compensation, money expert Martin Lewis and other campaigners have warned.
The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) group has urged women born in the 1950s to be wary of websites falsely offering compensation over the rise in the state pension age is available.
One woman in Derbyshire reported that she had been asked to provide copies of her birth certificate and bank details through an online form before realising it was a scam.
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Others have received fake emails claiming that compensation was available.
Waspi campaigners have been pushing for compensation for 3.6 million women over failures to properly notify them the state pension age would rise from 60 to 65 or 66.
A Parliamentary ombudsman found the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) guilty of “maladministration” for failing to properly notify women of the changes.
However, Labour ministers rejected compensation in December – arguing it would not be a “fair or proportionate” use of taxpayers’ money.
With a High Court challenge by the Waspi campaign currently in progress, opportunist scammers have seized on unsuspecting women affected by the pension saga.
Some of the fake websites to emerge falsely claim the“DWP announces £3,000 compensation for 3.8 million WASPI women” while another scam site is labelled as a “Martin Lewis Waspi calculator”.
Lewis said it was often organised criminal gangs “using psychologically adept tactics to steal from people” by offering compensation.
“They leach on to anything they can find, and compensation over the change in state pension age seems to be a new trend,” said the founder of MoneySavingExpert website.
“Even if they’re not asking for money, they could be trying to take your information as part of a wider fraud. Be incredibly careful, don’t click advertising or other links on social media, unless it is from a validated trusted source.”
Waspi chair, Angela Madden, said the behaviour of those preying on vulnerable women was “nothing short of disgraceful”.
What to do if you’ve been scammed
If you’ve been scammed, you need to:
protect yourself from further risks check if you can get your money back report the scamIf you’ve given the scammer access to your computer
Sometimes scammers ask to access your computer so they can control it remotely. For example, they might pretend to be from your internet provider and say they need to deal with a technical problem.
The scammer might have infected your computer with a virus, or stolen passwords and financial information. To stay safe you should:
reset your passwords let your bank know your financial information might have been stolen make sure you update your anti-virus softwareYou could also get an IT professional to check your computer.
If you transferred money to the scammer in the last 24 hours
Tell the police immediately by calling 101.
If you think your account details or PIN have been stolen
Contact your bank immediately so they can protect your account.
After you’ve told your bank about the scam, keep an eye on your bank statements and look out for any unusual transactions. Also check your credit score to see if there are applications for credit you don’t recognise.
If you think your password could have been stolen
Change your password as soon as possible. If you’ve used the same password on any other accounts you should change it there too.
Make sure you create a strong password – for example, using numbers and special characters.
Some sites let you add extra security to your account. This is known as ‘two-factor authentication’.
Madden said the group had fielded “dozens of queries from women following an alarming spike in fraudulent websites appearing in recent days”, before adding: “Any announcement on compensation will only ever come from the Government.”
The Independent Age charity also warned Waspi women to be wary, advising them to look out for “unprofessional communication” such as bad spelling or grammar.
Fran McSweeney, the charity’s head of services, said: “It’s concerning to hear that older women are being asked for their bank details and copies of their birth certificates by potential scammers.”
She added: “Never be rushed into sharing personal details out of the blue, and contact your bank if you think you’ve been tricked into revealing any of your banking details. If what you’re told sounds unlikely or too good to be true, it probably is.”
Waspi launched legal action against the Government in March after it rejected compensation and still hopes it can force a rethink from ministers.
Campaigners are waiting to hear about a possible court date after filing a judicial review claim, having raised more than £150,000 from supporters to take the Government to court
Madden previously told The i Paper the group was confident that Labour’s decision was “not just morally wrong but legally wrong”.
If you think you have been impacted by fraud contact Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133 or Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
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