Subscription traps take place when you sign up online or on the phone for free or low-cost trials of products, only to find that you have been unwittingly locked into costly repeat payments. Typically, these products are slimming pills, health foods, pharmaceuticals and anti-aging products but, increasingly, attractive consumer durable products such as the latest […]

Revenge porn is the practice of uploading online explicit images – specifically photos and videos – of ex-partners (or even current partners) without their consent. The images are generally taken during an intimate relationship. Images are sometimes accompanied by personal details such as the victim’s address and phone number.

Pensions are important and often very significant assets that people rely on so that they may live comfortably in later life. However, like with any valuable asset they can be the target for illegitimate activities, scams or inappropriate and risky investments.

When people die, they leave their physical assets and money to beneficiaries who could be family members, friends or acquaintances or favourite charities. This is arranged beforehand by making a will or – if there is no will – by a decision made by the court. Nowadays, most of us also leave behind various online […]

The internet of things (shortened to IOT) is a term commonly used to describe physical objects which are connected to the internet, but non-traditional in that they are not computers, tablets or mobile phones. Rather than being such devices used for communication or traditional downloading, they are everyday objects which have embedded operating systems that […]

Mobile banking – using banking apps or mobile websites on smartphones and tablets – is growing rapidly in popularity as people realise the benefits of the convenience of checking accounts, transferring money and making payments from the comfort of their armchair or whilst out and about. The major banks invest heavily in security to make […]

Using social networking sites of one kind or another is second-nature to most children. New sites are springing up every day and there are far to many to mention on this page … just look at the photo above, and that’s a tiny selection.

When talking about online safety and security, ‘social engineering’ means the act of manipulating or tricking people into certain actions including divulging personal or financial information … a kind of confidence trick. Social engineering exploits human nature and often plays on victims’ willingness to be helpful, or please others. It is a factor in many […]

Webcam blackmail usually involves people being lured into taking off some or all of their clothes in front of their webcam, only to be told that you have been recorded and that the video will be posted online and/or shown to the victim’s contacts unless a fee is paid – usually a substantial sum of […]

These days, it is easy to use a smartphone or tablet to download a product or service and charge it to your phone bill. Children are especially attracted to games, apps and media such as video and songs, and are able to download these on their mobile devices with just a few clicks.