Scam alert after bogus JDC email targets islanders with malware

Thursday 02 November 2017

Islanders are being warned to watch out for a fake email pretending to be from the Jersey Development Company, which could land them with a computer virus.

A new email scam has seen Jersey people sent a message entitled ‘Remittance Advice from The States of Jersey Development Company Limited’.

The bogus message, which purports to be from the development company behind the International Finance Centre and College Gardens, contains a link to download an invoice from Google Drive.

But real as though it may seem, two characters in the email address are a giveaway that it’s a hoax. It was sent from a ‘jerseydevelopment.uk’ address, while the true JDC use a ‘.je’ ending.

Pictured: JDC said that the email had nothing to do with them, and advised that they only ever sent direct attachments in PDF format.

The PDF, meanwhile, is a likely link to download malware - a piece of harmful software that could do anything from stealing private information to installing viruses or even programmes that will lock users out of their computers until they pay a sum of money.

The JDC have now issued a warning about the message, urging islanders not to click the link and to contact IT support services if they already have.

An email alert from the company’s Accounts Manager noted: “All Remittance advices sent by ourselves for accounts payment are in plain text and for the avoidance of doubt The States of Jersey Development Company NEVER sends out email links to suppliers for downloading of files. 

“Neither do we accept supplier invoices requiring the downloading of files from links.

“All supplier invoices emailed should be in the form of PDF files attached to the email.”

The scam alert comes just one week after strong warnings from Police on social media about ‘phishy’ messages for 'Get Safe Online Week'.

Crime Reduction Officer Chris Ingham will take part in a live Q&A session on the subject of scams and fraud this afternoon between 13:00 and 14:00 on the States of Jersey Police Facebook page.