Papers on various aspects of staying safe on-line are available by following the links below
promising a great return in exchange for cash now - how to spot and avoid.
preventing the introduction of viruses or malware.
how to ensure all your data can be recovered in any scenario.
also called ‘Safe Account Scams’ when pretend bank staff or police want you to move money to a ‘safe’ account.
another pretend bank employee or police officer trying to get your credit card (for collection by courier).
phone calls offering special deals or money off on your credit card.
an explanation of why you need at least 12 mixed characters (upper/lower case, numbers, punctuation) in every password.
with strong passwords different for every account, you may find a password manager helps keep you on track.
how to make strong passwords and why passkeys are much safer.
still the most popular scam - emails (or sometimes SMS) pretending to be from a reputable organisation. Help fight cyber crime by forwarding dodgy emails as attachments to report@phishing.gov.uk​ and forwarding dodgy text messages to 7726.
the simplicity of QR Codes (particularly those used for payment) can hide the true identity of a scammer.
generally now aimed at business but understanding how to prevent and recover still merits attention.
phone calls claiming to be from Microsoft (or BT etc) and offering to ‘fix’ a problem they have spotted are completely bogus.
public wi-fi can present a few issues (easily overcome) and you may want to take the steps given to protect your own wi-fi.
Advice from Apple on staying safe on-line
A little Apple-centric but equally applicable to all devices. Note: phishing and suspect emails can be forwarded to the UK government site: report@phishing.gov.uk
It is a sad fact of our on-line lives that everyone is at risk from some or all of the scams described in the links above. Please feel free to share the link to this page (https://www.pccitg.com/advice/) with friends, family, and colleagues.
The linked notes on this page are provided with the kind permission of Jeff Maynard; they are based on those used by Surrey Police Cyber Crime Unit. The material is provided in good faith but neither the documents' author (Jeff Maynard), the Innovation and Technology Group Committee or Phyllis Court Club can accept any responsibility for its use.
© Jeff Maynard 2025. Jeff's own website can be found at https://www.policevolunteer.co.uk/advice