Scots blinded by love in the run-up to Valentine's Day

Scots on the lookout for love are being urged not to fall victim to cold-hearted scammers

The warning, from cyber security advisers at the Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC), comes following a raft of fraudulent emails targeting users and the potential customers of legitimate dating sites in the run up to Valentine’s Day.

Known as a phishing scam, attackers send a finely crafted email to the victim’s account – pretending to be from a legitimate source in the hope of gaining sensitive, personal information.

Examples identified in recent weeks have sought to replicate a number of the UK’s most famous dating brands and apps.

Gerry Grant, an ethical hacker with the SBRC, has given advice to those concerned about potentially being targeted.

He said: “Whilst these fraudulent emails are often highly convincing, they do present tell-tale signs about their true nature.

“The most important thing to remember is if the email isn’t expected, then it should be inspected.

“By doing simple things such as checking the address of the email sender, or by checking the URL link before visiting the website, users can significantly reduce the risks of being caught out.

“If the user is ever in any real doubt about the legitimacy of the email, then they should visit the services legitimate website and check their account for any possible discrepancies – you really can’t be too careful.”

Online scammers are stepping up their game and using this love filled time of year to catch out some unsuspecting individuals

Tips for spotting a spam email – Right click on the sender details to see the real address of the sender.

Don’t click on any links. Again right click on the link and copy the URL, then paste this in to a word document to see where the link is trying to take you.

If you think the email is spam, it’s better to be safe than sorry.