We are aware that a small number of people have received a phishing email, claiming to be from Join Dementia Research and encouraging people to click on a link within the email.

We would like to reassure people that these are spoof emails – and have not originated from Join Dementia Research. There has been no data breach and no personal data or details have been accessed.

Any legitimate communications from Join Dementia Research will come from email addresses ending in; ‘@nihr.ac.uk’ with no characters between the ‘@’ symbol and ‘nihr.ac.uk’. For instance; comms.jdr@nihr.ac.uk

Any variations on this, for instance; comms.jdr@bdj0f.nihr.ac.uk will not be from Join Dementia Research.

How to spot scam emails

Phishing is when criminals use scam emails, text messages or phone calls to trick you into visiting a website or downloading a virus onto your device. They can be very convincing, often using branding from an organisation you trust.

If you have any doubts about an email or message, don’t respond or click on any links. Contact the organisation directly using details from their official website. Don’t use the numbers or contact details contained within the message.

There are a number of ways you can spot a phishing email or scam:

  • URLS. Don’t click on any buttons or links, but hover over the URL to bring up the full address. It if brings up an unrecognisable, or suspect address, it could be a scam.
  • Email address. The email address will often contain a slight misspelling or different format from the usual email address you receive from that organisation.
  • Poor language. Look for poorly written sentences with spelling and grammatical errors.
  • Generic greeting. They may use general phrases such as “dear customer” instead of the name you usually use on your account.

For more information on spotting and reporting scam emails, visit the National Cyber Security Centre website.