e-mail Paul Lewis on paul@paullewis.co.ukPHISHY BUSINESS
More and more of us are managing our money online. And more and more crooks
around the world are trying to steal it. But protecting yourself is
straightforward, just like keeping the door locked or your purse out of sight.
And if you do lose money through online fraud the bank will normally reimburse
you.
It is called ‘phishing’, hooking you in with a plausible story and when you respond stealing details and passwords. Although fraud on cards and cheques is falling, latest figures from the UK Cards Association says the number of phishing attacks has quadrupled in four years.
Phishing begins by sending in the hook - an email which appears to come from a bank or building society, HMRC, or even the student loans company. It will tell a plausible story, often that there is a security issue on your account. Or it may make you an offer about money overseas or shares you own. It will ask you to respond, usually by clicking on a link or opening an attached document. That is the moment of danger.
The link or attachment could download a virus or what’s called a Trojan onto your computer which can then do mischief – stealing data, turning your machine into a slave that sends out other emails, or just sitting there until activated.
So never, ever click on a link or download a document in an email from someone you don’t know. Delete it at once. Always keep your anti-virus software up to date. And change your passwords regularly. That way you should be safe online.
GRAND SAVINGS
ACCOUNTS
“How do I open a savings account for my grandchildren – by the
way, they live abroad?” It is a common question. And the banks seem to make it
as difficult as possible. Halifax is the latest to insist that savings accounts
cannot be opened for children who are outside the UK.
Some banks use money laundering laws or other excuses to exclude foreign residents. But HM Revenue & Customs confirms that there is no legal impediment to opening an account for grandchildren who happen to live abroad. And if you fill in a non-resident form R105 interest will can be paid gross, without income tax being deducted.
So if you want to open an account for grandchildren who live outside the UK ask your bank and do not take ‘no’ for an answer. It is possible.
FAST COACH
People over 60 or who are disabled can get one third of all coach fares with
National Express. The Senior Coachcard was introduced last November when the
Government withdrew its grant to subsidise half-price travel on long-distance
coaches. But it excluded journeys which took in a stop at an airport. After many
complaints from customers – especially those who use airport stops for general
travel – National Express has reversed this policy. Chief Executive Andrew
Cleaves admitted the mistake “In hindsight excluding airports was wrong and the
Coachcard will now provide a third off all scheduled journeys including airport
services.” The Coachcard costs £10 a year and can be obtained online or at coach
stations.
Information: www.nationalexpress.com/coach/offers/senior-coachcards.aspx
NUCLEAR TEST CASE
LOST
Compensation hopes for servicemen forced to witness nuclear
explosions in the 1950s faded in the spring as the Supreme Court ruled that nine
out of ten specimen claims were ineligible.
Altogether 20,000 men – usually conscripts in National Service – were used as human guinea pigs to test the effects of the newly invented nuclear weapons. Fourteen years ago I interviewed Hugh Highton, a sailor in the Pacific Ocean in 1952, who told me “We were ordered to parade up on deck. All I had on was a pair of shorts, sandals and a hat. No shirt. We were told to turn our backs and then I shut my eyes and put my hands over them.” Hugh had nine distinct diseases of his lungs, heart, joints and gut.
The Ministry of Defence has never accepted liability for the damage done to the men and sometimes to their children as well. It has used every legal technique to avoid paying compensation. Test cases finally got to the Supreme Court. But in March the justices ruled three to two that they were too late to proceed. Only one case still has some hope as it is covered by an earlier ruling. But that could take more years to resolve and will be too late for many of those affected.
Information: British Nuclear Test Veterans Association www.bntva.com 020 8144 3080 and ‘Reaping the Hurricane’, Saga November 1998
It
will cost well over a billion pounds this year to regulate the financial
industry, arbitrate complaints, educate the public, and compensate those who are
mis-sold. And the cost looks set to rise again in future.
The watchdog itself – the Financial Services Authority – accounted for nearly half the £1.2 billion total. And a similar amount will be needed to pay redress through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to the many victims of mis-selling. Another £100 million will pay for the Ombudsman and the new Money Advice Service, which is run partly through Citizen’s Advice Bureaux and partly online (try it at www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk). If you have not heard of it you are not alone. The Money Advice Service intends to spend £20 million this year to make sure we all have.
Next year the Financial Services Authority will be split in two. A new Financial Conduct Authority will regulate the consumer business and the firms that sell to us. And a new Prudential Regulatory Authority will check how large banks and insurance companies manage the risks they take. With two separate bodies doing the job now done by one, costs can only go one way – up.
Every penny of this billion pounds plus and rising is paid for by us. Not through taxation. But from an annual levy on every financial services firm, large and small. And that cost can only be recovered from one place – their customers. Us.
e-mail Paul Lewis on paul@paullewis.co.uk