SERS was launched by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the City of London Police in April 2020 to enable the public to forward suspicious emails to an automated system that scans them for malicious links. Since its launch, almost 21 million reports have been made to the service.
Mobile phone providers also offer a service that allows customers to report suspicious text messages, by forwarding them to the number 7726. The service is free of charge and enables providers to takedown malicious websites and block malicious texts from being sent across their network.
As of 31 May 2023, 54,000 text message scams have been removed as a result of suspicious texts forwarded to the 7726 service.
How to protect yourself from scam emails and texts
Received an email or text that seems suspicious? Report it. Your reports enable them to remove the emails and websites criminals use to commit fraud and cyber crime.
1: Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk . Send emails to this address that feel suspicious, even if you're not certain they're a scam - they can check.
2: Forward suspicious text messages to 7726 (it’s free of charge). Your provider can find out where the text came from and block or ban the sender.
3 - If you’ve lost money or provided personal information as a result of a phishing scam, notify your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk
Please note: Sometimes a forwarded email may not reach them because it is already recognised by spam detection services. You can also take a screenshot of the email and send it to report@phishing.gov.uk
