Over the past year or two I’ve come face to face (or rather, screen to screen) with scammers more often than I’d like.

First, there was my Spotify music account, which suddenly began showing strange songs in my recently played that were most certainly not to my music taste.

My account had been hijacked by a leach! I swiftly changed my password, and thankfully that was the end of that.

Then the same happened to my Netflix account, and this time the hacker swiftly changed the username, locking me out completely.

A quick call to Netflix HQ quickly put things right, and the operator’s calm demeanour assured me I was far from the only one that this had ever happened to.

Worst of all

But the worst of all was earlier this year, when I checked my online banking app and noticed an unexplained purchase of over a hundred pounds.

Further investigation uncovered that it had been paid to Nintendo to buy add ons for the popular video game ‘Fortnite’. Needless to say, I’m no Fortnite player, and I was quite livid at the thought of some stranger enjoying their gaming at my expense.

Following a few panicked phone calls to my bank and filing a report with Paypal, thankfully I was reimbursed within a few days.

It got me thinking about just how easy it could be for criminals to swindle me out of my hard earned cash.

I’ve been incredibly lucky that these incidences have resulted in nothing more than some mild inconvenience for me. Not everyone is so fortunate.

It’s estimated by the PSNI that scammers could be fleecing up to £5 million from the unsuspecting public here each year.

With fraudsters becoming more and more sophisticated, scams are becoming increasingly difficult to spot.

Anybody can be a victim

It’s important for us all to realise that anybody can be a victim of a scam, no matter your age or tech experience.

37 year old Clare Baldwin from Sussex is proof of this. Earlier this year she was just one of hundreds, maybe even thousands, of victims who were conned by a text message claiming to be from Royal Mail.

In total she lost almost £8,000 to the scam. “I’m so embarrassed,” she said, “But you can see from social media that victims of this scam aren’t just vulnerable elderly people.”

So what can you do to protect yourself from scams?

• Exercise caution if you receive a call out of the blue, even if the person claims to be from your bank or a familiar company. Scammers can clone phone numbers, so never assume it’s a genuine call even if the phone number they’re calling from appears real.

It’s always best to hang up, wait 20 minutes or use a different phone line, and call back yourself using the official company number which you’ve obtained from a trusted source – such as a bank statement or an official website.

Best practice is to reject cold calls altogether!

• Never give out personal information, such as your full credit card or bank account details, unless you made the call yourself to a trusted number.

Never share one time codes you may receive by text or from a card reader.

• Never give a caller remote access to your computer, even if they claim to be from a software or internet provider. Doing so could give them access to your passwords and online banking.

• Avoid clicking on links you receive in emails or text messages, even if it appears to be from someone you know. You can double check the information in the message by giving the person or company a call directly.

• Be wary of door to door collectors, salespeople or tradespeople. If in doubt, call the organisation on an official company number which you’ve obtained from a trusted source.

• Remember a legitimate organisations will never ask you to transfer money over the phone, pay using vouchers, go to your bank or building society to transfer money, or threaten to arrest you over the phone or by letter for not paying,

If you’re in doubt, remember ‘SCAM’:

• S - Seems too good to be true

• C - Contacted out of the blue

• A - Asked for personal details

• M - Money is requested

For more information, visit www.nidirect.gov.uk/scamwiseni