The following information has been issued by theWarwickshire Trading Standards and Warwickshire Police
Beware of Telephone Scams
Warwickshire Police and Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards are aware that criminals are trying to exploit the national coronavirus crisis and take advantage of innocent people.
Fraudsters purporting to be from the police or your bank are targeting elderly and vulnerable people to try and steal money from their accounts The callers will often seem genuine, offering you the opportunity to call them back to prove their identity. They establish their trust with you by confirming some of your personal details and will then make up a story in which money in your bank account needs to be transferred or withdrawn.
The police or your bank will never:
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Contact you out of the blue and ask for your personal details, including your PIN number, password or account details.
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Ask you to transfer money into another account to ‘protect’ your money from fraud or for other fraud reasons.
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Ask you to withdraw cash to hand to someone for safe keeping.
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Send someone to your home to collect cash, bank cards, account details or PIN numbers.
Protect yourself
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If you are unsure whether someone on the phone is genuine, hang up and then use a different line to call the organisation they are purporting to be from using a number from the phone book or internet, to verify their identity.
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Don’t give out your personal information to anyone over the phone, including your PIN number and bank account or card details.
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If you have given out your personal banking details to someone over the phone or have given someone your card details, contact your bank immediately to cancel your card.
Where to go for help
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If you receive a call from someone purporting to be a police officer and asking you to withdraw or transfer money, call Warwickshire Police on 101 – the more intelligence we receive, the more likely we are to catch those responsible.
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If you have been a victim of a telephone scam, please report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via their website: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
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For help and advice on scams, contact Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.