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HSBC Phishing SMS

Warning – don’t be fooled by any text messages you receive from HSBC saying your account has been locked.

I received an SMS from 07925 624942 stating

Your HSBC account has been locked for security reasons.
To re activate, please visit: https://hsbc.co.uk.customer-id2997476.com/?h=2
HSBC

You can easily tell it’s a phishing scam because the actual domain is customer-id2997476.com not HSBC.

Out of interest I wanted to see what kind of information they were trying to steal.

Continue reading “HSBC Phishing SMS”
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Apple Trade-In (GiveBack) is a scam (via Brightstar)

Apple run a Trade-In scheme (previously called Apple GiveBack) which lets you trade in your old device for a credit against a new device. There are lots of trade-in companies in the UK and some offer cash, gift cards, etc but Apple’s own scheme offers you a credit/discount against a new Apple device and they seemed to offer good trade-in prices too.

However, the scheme seems to be underwritten and handled by Brightstar and I had two separate trade-ins dramtically reduced in value when they received the devices.

My iPhone 6 was reduced from £140 to £60. No reason given.

My iPhone 7 was reduced from £225 to £160 saying it was locked to a network when it was bought SIM Free direct from Apple.

In both instances they just assumed I’d accept the lower value and issued gift cards for the lower prices. I anticipated something like this might happen so I made sure I documented, photographed and took videos of each device before shipping them. When challenged they instantly rolled over and blamed a “system error” for the reduced valuation and generated a separate gift card for the difference but I wonder how many people don’t have this evidence and just accept the lower value unecessarily.

If you receive an email from Brightstar stating “While inspecting your <device> we noted the following….This changes your trade-in value from £XXX to £YY” do not simply accept it and assume they are correct. You should ALWAYS CHALLENGE the inspection, especially when no reason is given. You should also ensure you take lots of photographs and a video that show the device operating perfectly before you ship it off to Apple GiveBack. I reached out to Apple for comments on this and sent them the emails to let them know Brightstar are trying to rip off their loyal customer base. I’ve yet to receive a response from Apple but thought it best to warn others who might be thinking of using Apple’s Trade-in program to think twice.

Email from Brightstar saying trade in reduced from £140 to £60 with just a blank section where the explanation should be.
iPhone 6 quoted value dropped from £140 to £60 with no reasons given.
iPhone 7 trade in value reduced from £225 to £160, apparently because the device is “locked” even though it’s a SIM free unit bought direct from Apple and logged out of iCloud and reset to factory.
Eventually Brighstar honor the two original quoted values.
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Missed call scam from +225 Côte d’Ivoire / Ivory Coast

Around 8pm on Friday I received a missed call from an international number that identified as +225…Côte d’Ivoire. I ignored this and a few minutes later it rang again. I kept ignoring it then another number from Côte d’Ivoire have me 8No missed calls back to back. I tried to ignore one of these calls via my watch and it accidentally called it back for 12 seconds. Then the calls continued to come in, only every ringing one or twice before hanging up. Never enough time to try and answer the call. Continue reading “Missed call scam from +225 Côte d’Ivoire / Ivory Coast”