People have been contacting national fraud reporting centre, Action Fraud, after receiving an email which appears to have been sent from a legitimate Lancashire Constabulary email address.
The email appears to come from ‘Lyn Whitehead’ and is asking for payment to an invoice that is attached to the email.
The spam email has not been sent or created by Lancashire Constabulary.
A third party supplier to the force has had their data breached and as a result of this a Lancashire Constabulary email address has been spoofed and used to generate spam to web users far and wide.
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Police are urging anyone who has received the email not to open the attachment and to delete the email from their system to avoid downloading a malicious virus onto their phone, laptop or computer.
If you have opened the attachment and ‘enabled macros’ it is very likely that all your personal data will have been breached.
You must change all your passwords for personal accounts, including your bank accounts.
If you believe you have become a victim of this get your device checked over by a professional and report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or by visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk.
For further advice and information on protecting yourself from fraud, visit the dedicated Stamp out Fraud in Derbyshire webpage at www.derbyshire.police.uk/stampoutfraud.