Look out for convincing BA-branded investment scam emails – linked to data breach?

If you receive a fairly convincing (to the untrained eye) email from British Airways offering you the chance to invest in a special debt instrument paying 3.3% and focused on sustainable investments, ignore it. It is a scam.

The first people to contact me about this were caught up in the British Airways data breach of a couple of years ago, and I assumed that the scammers were using that email list. I have since heard from someone who has a non-BAEC relative who received it, however, so this may be a red herring or there may be multiple stolen databases being used.

It is very important that you do NOT respond to this email in any way. Whilst the website it leads you to is professionally done, I also recommend not visiting it in case it attempts to install something on your computer.

This is the email you may receive:

There are enough clues here that this is a scam IF you know what you are looking for. This is partly down to the wording used, partly due to official disclaimers which should be there and partly down to the way the emails were sent. However, it is 100 times more convincing than your usual scam email.

What the scammers got right was setting the return at 3.3% which is not high enough to shout ‘scam’ but high enough to encourage people to hand over their telephone number to find out more.

If you click through, which I don’t recommend, you are taken to a fairly convincing BA-branded website. (The top image above is taken from it.) The font is typical of British Airways and the site uses wording from the BA sustainability website, including official BA photos and a video.

Is there anything in the extract below that looks dodgy? Not much:

Suffice it to say, if you receive one of these emails then you should bin it. You may also want to double-check that any less financially knowledgeable friends or relatives who may have been caught in the data breach (assuming that this is at least one of the sources of the email list used) are aware.

I promise you …. if you submit your telephone number via the online form on the website, you will be plagued by scam investment calls for the rest of your days.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.