Roaming, Clone websites, driving licence insurance checks, computer encryption scam

GOING ROAMING
The cost of using your phone abroad is coming down. But it is still important to be careful when you use your mobile phone outside the UK.

In the EU calls should cost no more than about 24p a minute (including VAT) to make and 7p a minute to receive. Texts should be around 8p to send. But be careful near the borders of the EU. Your phone may log on to the more expensive neighbouring non-EU country network. The real expense though is data. The charge within the EU is now capped at 46p per megabyte and that will fall to 24p from July. But using Google maps to find your way, accessing websites with lots of graphics, or downloading a film or TV programme can take hundreds of MBytes and still cost a great deal.

Outside the EU the cost is unregulated, though UK phone providers must warn you anywhere in the world when your spend approaches £50 on data and stops it unless you agree to pay for more. But if you have bought an alternative bundle of prices for foreign travel you may have opted out of that warning system. It is safer to turn off data roaming before you leave the UK. If you do want to find your way or check your emails, turn data roaming on to do that then off again. Even receiving a call can cost a lot – I was recently charged £1.30 per minute to receive calls in China. So keep them short.

BEWARE THE CLONES
I reported last year on websites that charge you extra for access to Government services that you can get free or at a fixed price.  But despite action by the Advertising Standards Authority these clone websites seem to be proliferating. Whatever Government service you look for the chances are an online search will produce a list topped by clone sites that charge you extra. Renewing a passport costs £72.50. But an online search will find websites seem ‘official’ but charge you an extra £40 to let you fill in the application online and then post it back to you to send off. They may also offer a ‘helpline’ charging £1.53 a minute. Similar sites charge you for the European Health Card (EHIC) which is free. Other sites will charge you extra for Land Registry property information, an HMRC tax form, a birth certificate, booking a driving test or renewing a driving licence.

The popular search websites such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo collude in this murky business by allowing firms to pay to be at the top of their search lists. Google says those sites must make it clear that the same service is available free or cheaper from an official site. But these warnings are often not prominent. The Advertising Standards Authority can order sites to change – it recently forced one passport site to remove a crown symbol and the word ‘official’. But these changes can take a long time to push through.

The safest way is to go to www.gov.uk and search there for the site you want.

LICENSED TO INSURE
Later this year if you buy or renew car insurance or get quotes from an online comparison site you will be asked for you Driving Licence Number (DLN). The DLN, which is 16 characters long, is found on new and old style licences and your details will be checked with the DVLA records to make sure you are licensed to drive that type of vehicle and check any current motoring convictions you have. You will also be asked for the DLN for any named drivers on your policy.

The Association of British Insurers says the new system will cut down fraud by people without a licence or who don’t tell the truth about their motoring convictions. A survey of 50,000 applications found that 16% failed to mention all the penalty points on their licence and so paid less than they should for their insurance. Another 7% actually said they had more penalty points than they did and could have paid too much. Points on a licence expire four years after conviction for most offences but not until eleven years for more serious ones.

The industry estimates that more accurate pricing could result in a saving of around £15 a year for each honest driver. No-one will be forced to give their DLN but if they do not then the insurance may be refused or set at a higher price. The new system will be phased in over the next few months. It excludes Northern Ireland licences and those issued by foreign countries.

SCAMWATCH
More and more of us go online to conduct our business, our banking and our social lives. But the police ActionFraud website reports that more than 7000 people in six months have been held to ransom by a cunning bit of software which encrypts the files on a computer hard drive and demands £500 for a key to unlock them. Failure to pay within three days means the files are lost forever. ActionFraud warns that paying the ransom will not guarantee your files will be saved.

The malware infects your computer when you click on a link or download a file from an email. It is safest never to do that unless you are sure of the email. If in doubt, hover the cursor above the link to see where it takes you. And never click on a link from an unknown email. You should also backup your files regularly onto a hard drive that you then disconnect from your computer. Make sure your antivirus software is continuously updated. Report frauds to ActionFraud on 0300 123 2040 or online at www.actionfraud.police.uk. If it happens to you disconnect your computer and take it to a local computer specialist. They can disinfect it but may not be able to restore your files.

e-mail Paul Lewis on paul@paullewis.co.uk