IMPORTANT: We will NEVER send you a text message asking you to follow a link to enter your personal details or bank details. If you receive a text message with a link to a website which looks like Pets4Homes, please report this to us immediately and to report@phishing.gov.uk. We do however sometimes ask you to confirm your identity by sending proof of identity / address to our Trust & Safety team. We do this to ensure that Pets4Homes remains a safe environment to re-home pets.
What is Phishing?
"Phishing" is a common online scam, where the scammer tries to get you to share sensitive information such as login credentials, credit card information, or bank account details.
Phishing attempts on Pets4Homes
Pets4Homes has unfortunately also been subject to phishing attempts, where some users have received text messages from persons claiming to be from Pets4Homes. The text message asks you to click on a link to go to a website and submit your login details and bank details.
We want to stress that this is a scam, and that you should NOT click on such links or submit any details about yourself.
Below we have included a screenshot of the phishing attempt that came to our attention. As you can see, the link included in the text is not pets4homes.co.uk.
What can you do?
Although we maintain controls to help protecting our site from these types of scams, we want to provide you with the following best practices to avoid being scammed.
- Do not provide sensitive personal information (like usernames and passwords) over e-mail.
- Pets4Homes will never send you a text message asking you to verify your personal details.
- Inspect URLs / website links carefully to make sure they are legitimate and not imposter sites.
- If you suspect that someone is attempting to scam you, please do contact our customer support by clicking the button at the end of this article.
I have fallen for a phishing attempt - what should I do?
Secure Your Pets4Homes Account:
- If you provided your username and password for Pets4Homes, please first check if your account was moved to a dummy account created by the scammer by looking for your post and conversation history. You might want to try other devices where you may still be logged into your account to check if your account details have been changed.
- If you still have access to your original account, please immediately change your password. (If you use this email and password combination elsewhere, you should change your passwords for those websites as well!)
- If you have lost access to your original account, please write back to us with the phone number registered to your account, or a link to one of your adverts which can be found in your browser history. You may also send us your Advert ID which can be found on the email receipt for any recent payment you may have made. Once we have located your account, we can help to restore your details and secure your profile.
Protect Yourself:
- If you received a text, we ask that you please forward the text message to 7726 so that the mobile network can investigate and suspend this number. This will prevent more people from receiving the same message.
- Please report any fraudulent e-mail to the registrar of the domain (you can find the registrar here and check the abuse e-mail) so they can shut down the website immediately.
- If you have provided your personal or bank details, you should report this to Action Fraud and/or your bank so that they can take appropriate action.