Credit card scammer targets equestrian advertisers

Online buyers have been warned to be aware of another probable scam, by individuals posing as the Horse & Hound team.

Equine photographer Alice Gipps alerted H&H to an email she received yesterday (29 May) about a Mercedes lorry she has advertised on HorseandHound.co.uk.

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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.

Credit card scammer targets equestrian advertisers

It appears the message had been generated via the “email seller” tab on the advertisement, as it contains the standard header and footer.

“Dear seller,” it reads. “This is a Safety check, so that all our users can safely enjoy our services!

“To avoid suspending your account on our website, please help us with the following information, Replay to this email, so you will be registered as an authentic user.”

The message, from Hound-Team@consultant.com, asks for the seller’s email address, full name, credit card number, expiry date and CVV code and ends “Tthanks, H&H Team”.

Ms Gipps told H&H the request for card details rang alarm bells – as did the “several spelling mistakes”.

Website editor Carol Phillips confirmed the email did not originate from H&H.

“It’s always disappointing when we learn scammers are using our website to try to take advantage of our hard-working readers,” she said.

“Horse & Hound would never ask for credit card details to be sent via an email. If anyone receives a message of this nature they should delete it immediately and not response to the request.”

The email did also contain the genuine H&H phone number and email address, as well as our warning to look out for scammers.

The scam warning reads: “We are aware that some very genuine sounding individuals are targeting sellers via the Horse & Hound Buy & Sell classified service.

“If you receive a telephone call from someone claiming to be from Horse & Hound, who asks for your credit card details due to a payment not going through due to a systems crash or payment being refused, DO NOT give them your card information.

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