Ranvir Singh: Preston star ironically nearly falls for internet scam as she is set to host scamming programme

What was the scam?

Posting on her Instagram story at around 8pm last night, Ranvir shared a screenshot of an email she had received from an account called TV Licensing UK with the subject line ‘Urgent Notice- Renew Your TV Licence, 6/20/23 9:14:34 p.m.’

The email, which Ranvir shared to her 125,000 followers, began "Dear [Ranvir's email address], Keep your TV viewing legal and hassle free by renewing your license.

"I hope this email finds you well."

The 45-year-old GMB presenter captioned the screen grab: “I almost clicked to pay this just now but I’m currently doing a scams programme for @itvtonight and something didn’t feel right. The ‘urgent’ bit felt a bit over the top”

The former Lancaster University and UCLan student then shared a screenshot of the account’s true email addess which read something very different to the TV Licensing account it was parading as.

In the second slide, Ranvir wrote: “So I clicked on the sender’s email name to see the email address .. and it’s this .. I was seconds away from paying into this scam.”

What is the show?

Ranvir, who also hosts ITV’s Riddiculous, revealed she is ironically set to host a scamming programme for ITV Tonight, its popular current affairs programme.

This was the first announcement of the former Strictly star’s next adventure, with nothing else yet known about it.

ITV has been approached for comment.

What would a real TV Lincensing email look like?

TV Licensing has issued guidance online about what a real email from them would look like:

CHECK THE SENDER

Genuine TV Licensing emails are sent from: [email protected] or [email protected]

On a computer, you should be able to see the real email address between the < > symbols.

But on a mobile device, you may need to select the sender’s name to see the address.

PARTIAL POSTCODE

If you have provided your postcode details, emails will include part of your postcode and/or the name on the licence.

LOOK FOR YOUR NAME

If you’ve given your name, then they’ll always address you using your last name and title. Watch out for emails that only address you as “Dear client” or “Dear customer”, or just use your email address/part of it.

CHECK SPELLING/GRAMMAR

Scammers can’t use genuine TV Licensing web addresses or email addresses. Look out for slightly different spellings and things like hyphens and other grammatical errors, such as full stops in odd places.

CHECK THE LINKS

Always check links in an email before clicking on or tapping them. Be particularly wary of links that promise you money/refunds.

If you’re on a computer: Hover over the link with your mouse (but don’t click it). This will reveal the full web address that you are being sent to.

If you’re on a smartphone or tablet: Press and hold the link (don’t release while you are on the link). This will reveal the full web address that you are being sent to.