A phishing attack is a fraudulent message purporting to be from a reputable source and encouraging you to reveal personal information – such as passwords and financial details. Common examples include scammers posing as police, HMRC. Some might even appear to come from WCS Care Ltd, so please be careful about the messages you open.

Malicious emails, including spam, viruses, malware, and phishing attacks, can potentially cause significant damage to WCS Care Ltd data and could also have a significant personal impact, including financial consequences. It is very important that you do not click any links, open suspicious attachments, or respond to these types of emails, and never supply personal or bank details to people you do not know.

Always check any websites (URL/web address) you log into. Cybercriminals can fake the login pages of banks, Microsoft, and other online services. If you are unsure, do not log in. Always go to the official website.

You can also report fraud and cybercrime via the Action Fraud website.

How to spot a phishing email:

- Are you expecting to receive an email from this person/company? If not, treat it with caution.

- Is the email addressed to you, or is the greeting something more generic, such as ‘Dear customer’? Treat the latter with caution.

- Check the email sender’s domain name (the last bit of the email address) – something like enquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk is likely to be trustworthy, while UKhomeoffice@gmail.com is certainly not.

- Be wary of suspicious-looking URLs in emails – again, an unbroken domain such as gov.co.uk or gov.co.uk/login would be trustworthy, whereas login-at-gov.co.uk would not.

- Look out for poor spelling and grammar – most companies employ professional copywriters to write their emails. Scammers usually do not.

- Any email asking for personal information such as a PIN, password, or financial details should be treated with extreme caution, as should an email that asks you to download something.

- Common phishing emails include delivery companies (DHL, etc.), invoices, and emails that look like Microsoft. If you are unsure, do not click any links.

Further help: If you receive any suspicious messages asking you for your WCS Care Ltd credentials, please report it to support@wcs-care.co.uk."