Warning - fraudulent emails and online scams

Be careful if you receive an unexpected email claiming to be from Vodafone or sent on our behalf – even if it looks the part. There’s a good chance it’s from a fraudster.

These emails often claim to offer jobs, business opportunities or share swapping services with Vodafone. Some tell you that you have won a competition or lottery. Usually they ask you to reply with personal details such as your user name, password, or even bank details, or direct you to a website that asks for this information.

Any legitimate organisation will never ask for this type of personal information in an email or by sending a link to a website. These messages are not from Vodafone and we are not responsible for them.

Here are some tips to help you spot a scam email or website:

• Double check the email address. At first glance, fraudulent messages can look like they’re from Vodafone, but on closer inspection are from a hotmail or other public email account. For example, vodafone@hotmail.com is not a genuine Vodafone email address.
• Double check the URL of websites and links. Companies always use clear URLs like www.vodafone.com/content/index/about.html. Scam sites and links usually have long addresses using special characters like &^%%%&*$£”
• Look at the wording used. If it doesn’t read like a request from a legitimate company, it probably isn’t.
• Avoid requests that sound vague, unlikely or too casual, such as “our database has been corrupted, please resend your details”, or “recent legislation means we require this information”.
• Look for grammar and spelling mistakes. Scam emails are often electronically translated from different languages, resulting in obvious spelling errors and odd sentence structures.