Fake Met Police email scam: how to stay safe

The fake emails claim to be from the police and contain "crime prevention advice".

Email scammers are trying to steal victims' personal information by pretending to be from the Metropolitan police.

The fake emails are being sent from an address called crime@content.met.police.uk, which isn't a valid Metropolitan Police email address.

According to Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, the emails ask the victim to open an attachment containing “crime prevention advice”.

However, anyone who does so will automatically download key logger software onto their computer or device.

“The iSpy key logger gives fraudsters the power to record every keystroke from a victim’s device and steal sensitive information,” Action Fraud said in a release.

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How a typical scam email look

The subject line of the email is 'Crime Prevention Advice' or some variation thereof, while the attached file is called '11212527.zip'.

An example email reads:

To the general public:

See attached document to read more about crime prevention advice.

Regards,

Metropolitan Police Service.

A simple scam

The fact the email isn’t addressed to a specific person is a trademark of a typical scam email.

Likewise, the fact the attachment is a random sequence of numbers shows this to be a fairly unsophisticated scam attempt.

Nonetheless, some people might be tempted to open the email and click on the attachment if they believe it to be from the police.

If you do receive this email, just delete it. As always, make sure your antivurs software is up to date just in case you do get conned!

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How to avoid email scams

Of course, there are many more sophisticated scams doing the rounds. To help you stay safe, Action Fraud has provided a few general email safety tips.

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Keep safe! More scam alerts from loveMONEY:

The cold-call investment con: how it works

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The most common HMRC email scams - how to stay safe

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