People have been urged to look out for scams over Christmas as fraudsters target vulnerable Britons to try and con them into handing over their details.

BT group and AbilityNet have joined forces to warn people about the common tactics scammers use to dupe people into sending them information.

Lucy Walsh, digital skills trainer at AbilityNet, said: "Almost all of us will, at some time or another, be enticed by ‘scammers’ to part with our hard-earned cash, or our sensitive personal data. This kind of illegal activity is particularly rife during the festive season.

"So, at this time of year, it's even more important that we spread the word about how we can take action to identify and avoid some common tactics used by online fraudsters.

"Older people, disabled people and those who are less confident with technology are particularly vulnerable to scams, so here at AbilityNet, we want to share some tips and tactics to help keep us all safer online and have a happier, safer Christmas."

Fraudsters take advantage of the rush of online shopping to buy Christmas presents or book events. They will often target those who are less tech savvy and who don't usually shop online at other times of the year.

BT Group is hosting a “The 12 Scams of Christmas” webinar at 1pm today (December 12) to help older and digital people be more aware of online scams. People can sign up to the webinar here.

Delivery giant Evri warned consumers of some of the ploys scammers use over the festive season. The group said: "These criminals use what we call the ‘spray and pray’ method. Sending out millions of these messages each month across a variety of different brands in the hope of catching you out.

"We take fraudulent activity incredibly seriously here and we work closely with a number of leading external cybersecurity partners as well as the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Centre to identify scams and remove these as quickly as possible."

Evri said it wuld never request payment from a customer over text or email, so if a person receives a message like this, they can be assured it is not legitimate.

The firm has also provided seven additional red flags for people to look out for in any communications claiming to be from Evri.

Sharing its top tips to help people identify when they may be being scammed, Evri said it would “never” request payment from its customers over text or email.

The firm has also provided seven additional red flags for people to look out for in any communications claiming to be from Evri.

How to spot an Evri scam

• Look out for poor language – poorly written sentences, grammar and spelling errors.
• Lack of a personal greeting – they may use 'Dear Customer' or ‘Dear [your email address]’ instead of using the name a person uses on their account (though criminals are getting better at personalising messages)
• A link or button - they may include links or buttons in emails that urge people to click on them. Before clicking on any links, hover over the button or URL to check it goes where it's supposed to. If it brings up an unrecognised address, it could be a scam.
• An unusual or vague email address - the email address will often be different from the usual email address from that company, even just using a slight misspelling or different formatting.
• Check the number - a scam text message often arrives as a mobile number, rather than from an official source.
• Urgency in messages – scammers want people to act quickly. If the message is trying to make people send details quickly, they should be suspicious.
• Lacks detail about the parcel – delivery scams are typically vague and offer no specifics about a parcel, no tracking number, where it’s coming from or what’s inside.

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