Cricket clubs in Devon are once again being targeted via believable email scams.
In the past, clubs in Devon, Somerset and Gloucestershire have actioned these emails due to their honest seeming nature and, as a consequence, have lost considerable amounts of money.
The nature of the scam is an email impersonating the chairman (or another senior officer) of the club sent to another committee member, most likely the treasurer, with a request most often relating to a payment via bank transfer. Correct email addresses are shown with the appropriate names of club officers to make the scam look convincing. It is possible that the scammers will send reminder emails in the days following the initial email to add credibility to the scam.
We urge all clubs to be highly diligent should you receive any such requests from officers at your club. Should you receive a message of this type, or of a similar nature, that purports to be a club, league or board official, please check that the email address from which it originates is one you recognise. We would advise that, should you have any doubts over the authenticity of any of the messages you receive, to contact the person via another communication method (such as over the phone) to ensure the request is genuine. All of the contact details for officials and staff of the Devon Cricket Board can be found on our website.
There is a helpful government website where you can learn more about cyber security and how to avoid scams and hackers. There are six recommended key actions:
- Use a strong and separate password for your email
- Create strong passwords using 3 random words
- Save your passwords in your browser
- Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA)
- Update your devices
- Back up your data
If you receive a suspicious email you can forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk.
If you are out of pocket due to a scam email please contact the police on 101.
If you receive an email that looks suspicious you can report this to Action Fraud.
Please also report any such incidents to info@devoncricket.co.uk so we can publicise any future versions of the scam to the cricket network.
