As you may have read in today’s Cornish Times fraudsters have scammed £11k out of two Liskeard pensioners and a third pensioner was saved from handing over his £10k savings by an alert neighbour.
Devon and Cornwall Police have now put out this warning.
Fraudsters are contacting victims by telephone and purporting to be a police officer or bank official. To substantiate this claim, the caller might be able to confirm some easily obtainable basic details about the victim such as their full name and address.
They may also offer a telephone number for the victim to call to check they are genuine; this number is not genuine and redirects to the fraudsters who pretend to be a different person.
The fraudster will then, for example, suggest money has been removed from a victim’s bank account or taken from their card and staff at their local bank are responsible. Victims are made to believe their money was at risk and not to trust anyone in the bank.
They were told to withdraw money and hand it to a courier working for the police with the promise they will get it back.
The public are reminded these fraudsters are highly professional in their approach and incredibly convincing. The best way to prevent these scams is to make everyone aware.
Remember, your bank or the police will never phone and ask for your PIN or full banking password; ask you to withdraw money to hand over to them for safe-keeping, or send someone to your home to collect cash, PIN, cards or cheque books if you are a victim of fraud; don’t assume an email or phone call is authentic just because someone knows your basic details (such as your name and address or even your mother’s maiden name), it doesn’t mean they are genuine; be mindful of who you trust – criminals may try and trick you into their confidence by telling you that you’ve been a victim of fraud.
If something feels wrong, then it is usually right to question it. Have the confidence to refuse unusual requests for personal or financial information.