TV licence customers are being urged to look out for a convincing-looking scam email that is currently circulating. The fake message pretends to be from TV Licensing and uses panic tactics to pressure recipients into handing over their bank details.
Scam email threatens £1,000 fine
The email claims that a direct debit payment has failed and states: "This is your final reminder. To avoid a fine of up to £1,000 plus legal costs, please renew your licence or provide evidence that a valid licence is held for this address."
It also claims there is an expiration date of August 21, 2026 for the licence, and features a purple button that says 'View and renew online'. The message is signed off by "TV Licensing Customer Services."
YouTuber and legal expert Daniel ShenSmith issued the warning after one of his viewers shared the fake email with him. While the viewer easily spotted the con because they don't actually have a TV licence, someone rushing through their inbox could easily be caught off guard.
Red flags to spot the fake
The legal expert pointed out several telltale signs that the email is not the real deal:
- The wrong logo: The email features a white tick inside a green circle. The real TV Licensing logo has a blue tick on a black background. The font used for the logo is also different.
- A strange 'To' field: The top of the email shows it was sent to billing@tvlicensing.co.uk. This suggests the scammers sent it to a massive list of people using blind copy so you can't see the other targets.
- Use the mouse hover technique: If you hover your mouse over the sender's address without clicking, it reveals the true email address. In this case, it ended in .br, which is the domain for Brazil—definitely not the BBC's Licensing department.
- Dodgy links: You can use that same hover trick on the purple button. Doing so reveals that the button leads to a random website, again definitely nothing to do with TV Licensing.
What to do if you receive the scam
If you receive a suspicious message like this, do not click any links. Sadly these emails can look very genuine, but one click is all it takes to put your personal information at risk. Instead, you can help in the efforts to stop these scammers by forwarding the message to the UK's official reporting service, at report@phishing.gov.uk.
