#Gems tv scams update#

There are a few ways to protect your TV from being the source of a scam. The network issued a warning, advising its customers to only use their phone’s built-in camera app to scan QR codes on Sky pages, or to otherwise search the URL in a browser. There's no need to a download a potentially malicious 'QR scanner' app. As mentioned above, pop-ups are now becoming another way to target people as well as through QR codes. Some TV services make it easy for you to log in on your TV by scanning a QR code on your phone.īut Sky reported in April that it had noticed an increase in some customers using third-party QR scanner apps that redirected customers to third-party sites instead of where the code should take you.

Scammers are finding new ways to steal personal information and money though.

#Gems tv scams update#

These messages – whether it be an email, phone call, text message or letter – often say that there is a problem with your account or that you need to update information but more often than not they’re out of the blue, which is usually one of the first signs to be cautious. One of the most common, as mentioned above, is through phishing, whereby a scammer sends a message pretending to be a company. When it comes to scams targeting your TV, the most common are those that look to gain access to your account, which can be approached in various ways. Known as an advance fee scam, it worked by convincing a victim to hand over money in anticipation of a higher return. Some types of online scams have even been around for so long that they have gained notoriety – ‘the Nigerian prince’ was one of the very earliest cons to fool people on the internet.

It seems like every year they get more sophisticated than before too.