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Corrections

Material corrections to Beat the Scam guides, including what changed, when it changed, and how to request a review.

Last updated: 23 July 2026

This log records material factual corrections to published Beat the Scam guides. It does not list spelling, formatting, accessibility, or purely stylistic changes.

How to request a correction

Email editorial@beatthescam.com with the page URL, the wording you believe is wrong, and a primary or authoritative source where possible. We assess the claim, update the guide when warranted, and record a material change below.

23 July 2026

Following a full corpus fact re-check against current primary sources:

  • DPD text guide: the reporting section no longer directs readers to a DPD fraud-reporting route that DPD UK's phishing guidance does not offer; reporting now goes via 7726, the NCSC, and the police reporting route for the reader's nation (Report Fraud for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or Police Scotland on 101 for Scotland), and the guide's sources now cite DPD UK rather than DPD Germany.
  • TV Licence email guide: sender-address guidance updated — TV Licensing warns that scammers can spoof its genuine addresses, and its current Themis Recoveries trial legitimately emails from mailing@themisglobal.co.uk about expired licences; a matching sender address is no longer presented as proof an email is genuine.
  • Microsoft account email guide: restored Microsoft's published phishing-forwarding mailbox for non-Outlook clients (phish@office365.microsoft.com, sent as an attachment so headers are preserved), which the guide previously said no longer existed; the Microsoft Defender portal's Submissions page is now described as an administrator route.
  • TalkTalk call guide: call-back guidance now uses TalkTalk's current published customer-service number (0345 172 0088, free from TalkTalk home phones) rather than the legacy 150 short code, which TalkTalk's current contact page no longer lists.
  • O2 text guide: replaced a defunct NCSC reporting URL and narrowed blanket “a genuine O2 text will never…” claims to O2's published commitment (no requests for codes, passwords or security information).
  • Shpock guide: Buyer Protection is now described as optional paid cover that the seller must enable and the buyer must purchase with the in-app payment, with claim deadlines of seven days from proof of postage (24 hours from receipt for Parcel2Go deliveries); reporting is now routed via the item page or Shpock's trust team.
  • Rightmove rental guide: deposit-protection wording updated for the end of assured shorthold tenancies in England and occupation contracts in Wales.
  • Google Voice code guide: clarified that Google Voice registration targets US numbers; for UK numbers the read-back code may relate to a different or undetermined Google security flow (or another service's one-time code), and remediation steps were reworked accordingly.
  • Bitcoin ATM guide: replaced check-the-register framing with the FCA's actual position that no registered firm is approved to operate crypto ATMs and any machine in the UK is operating illegally.
  • IVA guide: verification route corrected — IVAs are run by licensed insolvency practitioners outside FCA authorisation, so the guide now points to the Insolvency Service's register of insolvency practitioners.
  • Online pharmacy guide: scoped the MHRA online medicine seller register to Northern Ireland-based sellers; Great Britain checks rely on the GPhC register.
  • Invoice redirection checklist: added the mandatory APP reimbursement scheme's eligibility scope — individuals, qualifying micro-enterprises and qualifying charities; larger businesses fall outside the mandatory scheme but retain recall and complaint routes.
  • Santander call guide: removed an unsourced description of Santander's outbound-call identity checks in favour of hang-up-and-call-back guidance.
  • Passport guide: stopped describing third-party application websites as “check and send” services, to avoid confusion with the Post Office's official Check and Send service.
  • Jet2 holiday guide: Manage My Booking instructions corrected — Jet2holidays package logins use the lead passenger's date of birth; the departure date applies to jet2.com flight-only bookings.
  • Smart meter call guide: removed the overbroad claim that genuine engineers always have a confirmed appointment; installations are booked in advance, but suppliers can have other legitimate reasons to visit — verify by calling the supplier on an independently found number.
  • Etsy guide: Section 75 wording corrected to the statutory cash-price test (over £100 and no more than £30,000), which can apply even where only part of the payment was made by credit card.
  • Cryptocurrency payment guide: clarified that crypto investments are generally outside FSCS protection even when a firm is FCA-registered.
  • Court summons email guide: a matching @justice.gov.uk sender address is no longer presented as proof an email is genuine — HMCTS warns its addresses can be spoofed; verification now routes through GOV.UK's court finder.
  • Pension liberation guide: Pension Wise guidance is now signposted through MoneyHelper, its current delivery route.

18 July 2026

  • DPD scam text guide: removed the blanket claim that DPD never requests payment by text. The guide now distinguishes fraudulent redelivery fees from genuine import duties or taxes and requires independent parcel verification.
  • Website-checking guide: removed universal company-number, Companies House, product-photography, and one-working-day response tests. Added sole-trader, new-company, statutory-rights, PayPal-deadline, APP-timetable, and Section 75 qualifications.
  • Amazon phone-call guide: replaced the unsupported claim that Amazon never cold-calls with the narrower, sourced rules on OTPs, confidential information, remote access and independent account verification.
  • Concert-ticket and holiday-compensation guides: corrected Section 75 wording from an inclusive £100 threshold or generic card payment to a qualifying credit purchase with a cash price over £100 and no more than £30,000, subject to the required relationship and other conditions.
  • Methodology and structured data: clarified the limits of automated checks and stopped inferring an independent reviewedBy reviewer from an update date.

Editorial status

Pages found to be too thin or insufficiently distinctive are made ad-free and removed from search/discovery inventories while they are rewritten or consolidated. This is a publishing control, not a claim that unlisted pages are unsafe.

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