TV Licensing is warning residents of County Down of scam emails.
TV Licensing is warning customers to beware of fake emails which claim people are owed a refund or say billing information is out of date and needs to be updated.
These emails often link through to ‘copycat’ TV Licensing websites which ask people to input their personal and financial details. TV Licensing has seen a rise in calls about this issue and Action Fraud reported it had received around 2,500 reports of these emails.
Alana Taylor, spokesperson for TV Licensing, said: “In common with other large organisations like HMRC, TV Licensing suffers from fraudsters sending scam emails to the public posing as genuine TV Licensing communications.
“TV Licensing will never email customers, unprompted, to ask for bank details, personal information or tell you that you may be entitled to a refund. Anyone who has provided their details as a result of a fraudulent email should report it via ActionFraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. If they have provided bank details, they should call their bank urgently.
“TV Licensing offers helpful information on scam emails at the following link:
www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ288.”
Fake texts purporting to be from TV Licensing have also been reported. Advice on these texts can be found at the following link:
https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/faqs/FAQ233
A colour TV Licence currently costs £150.50. You need to be covered by a TV Licence to watch or record programmes as they’re being shown on TV or to:
watch or download BBC programmes on iPlayer. This applies to any provider you use and any device.
Helpful tips on spotting scam emails.
* Look out for emails which don’t include your name or which are addressed to your email address – TV Licensing will never do this.
* If there are spelling or grammatical mistakes, an email is likely to be a fake.
* How is the email written – does it seem too casual or familiar?
* Check the email subject line. Anything like “Action required”, “Security alert”, System Upgrade” or “There is a message waiting for you” should be treated as suspect.
* Check the email address. Does the email address look like a genuine TV Licensing address? For example, donotreply@tvlicensing.co.uk
* Hover over the links in the email to check if their destination is the official TV Licensing website. If in doubt, just go directly to the TV Licensing website at: tvlicensing.co.uk
Paying for a TV Licence:
* TV Licensing aims to make it as easy as possible for people to buy a TV Licence, which is why there are many different ways to pay.
* Online – people are able to pay online atwww.tvlicensing.co.uk/payinfo by Direct Debit or with a debit or credit card
* Direct Debit – monthly, quarterly or annual Direct Debit payment schemes are available and can be set up online at: www.tvlicensing.co.uk/directdebit
* Over-the-counter – people can pay at any of over 26,800 PayPoint outlets across the country or by cash or credit/debit card.
* Debit or credit card over the phone – this facility accepts payment from a range of debit cards including Maestro, Delta and Connect
* By post – send a cheque made payable to TV Licensing to: TV Licensing, Darlington, DL98 1TL
* To find out more about paying in weekly instalments over the counter, online, by SMS or by phone on the cash payment plan, call 0300 790 6078 or visit: www.tvlicensing.co.uk/cashplans
