17/04/20 9788 Somerset: Scams & Fraud Video

Dear Members

The next of our popular senior safety videos, which discusses the topic of Covid-19 scams and frauds that are being targeted at the vulnerable and elderly, is now available. This may help protect the many frightened and vulnerable elderly citizens in our communities.

Please pass the link to anyone who you think would benefit, or watch and take notes to pass on to those residents nearby who don’t have access to the internet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUWkITYmcQg&feature=youtu.be

02/04/20 9788 Somerset Another Corona virus Scam (Text Message)

Dear Members

The latest scam seems to be that scammers have been sending fake texts to individuals threatening a fine for leaving home. The text claims that the UK Government has been tracking your movements and that you left the home on given dates and travelled a specified distance. You are then told that you have to pay a fine, which will increase the longer you take to pay it. THIS IS A SCAM. It uses the name of a civil authority and preys on your worry that it will cost more if you ignore it. Delete the text and never click on any link in a message from someone you don’t know.

The BBC Website has more information on this and can be found by following this link below:

Hi,

 Thank you for all our village e-letters, John, and for the excellently thought out strategy for our village, Jim.

 I'm  emailing you both since you two have the power of communication in this village.

 We had a scam today, which looked authentic.

 It told me that our direct debit payment for our TV licence had just expired and invited me to click on a link to set up a new direct debit.

 I did not click on the link, but, instead, checked the details of our TV licence - the number on the scam was fictitious and so was the information - we are covered until mid June.

 We do hope no one falls for this.

 With Best Wishes, Simon and Kate Gates

26/03/20 9788 Somerset: Press Office Release, Fraud & Scam awareness.

Dear Members,

Avon & Somerset Police Press Office have released information regarding recent online Fraud and Scam activity relating to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic.

Please do take the time to read through this information, you can either follow the link below or open the file attached.

Please Stay in and Stay safe.

https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/news/2020/03/beware-fraud-and-scams-during-covid-19-pandemic-stay-at-home-stay-safe-on-line/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=beware-fraud-and-scams-during-covid-19-pandemic-stay-at-home-stay-safe-on-line

Attachments:

• beware-fraud-and-scams-during-covid.pdf

Dear Members,

During this challenging period, it is heartening to hear lots of stories of kindness from friends and neighbours caring for one another. This is where many Neighbourhood Watches have excelled in looking after the elderly and vulnerable members of their community – or simply offer to help everyone. This includes phone calls to ensure people are ok, assistance with appointments and the collection of groceries and medications.

We must however remain vigilant and rely upon those we know and trust. I have learnt today of a couple of incidents where callers have arrived on doorways offering to do shopping, claiming to be good Samaritans. They have taken money and a shopping list but never returned.

Unfortunately there are some people who will always take advantage of any crisis to steal from those in need. Please do not fall foul to this and only rely upon people you know or trust to help you.

You were sent this message because you are in the following group(s): Winsham (Winsham, TA204JY).

06/02/20 9788 Somerset Press Release: Courier fraudsters dupe 28 victims out of more than £127,000 in Avon and Somerset.

Throughout January Avon and Somerset Police have been supporting a national campaign to raise awareness of courier fraud.

A three week campaign led by the National Economic Crime Centre was a combination of awareness raising and enforcement activity and is the first phase of activity to combat fraud.

All 43 forces in England and Wales have been supporting January’s Operation Radium.

Nationally since November 44 people have been arrested on suspicion of courier fraud. Over the past two years there have been more than 3000 victims of courier fraud reported nationally with losses believed to be around £12m.

Figures released by the City of London Police – the national lead force for fraud and the co-ordinators of Operation Radium – have revealed that 28 people in the Avon and Somerset force area reported being a victim of courier fraud in 2019. This amounted to an estimated £127,224 in losses.

Nationally, victims are predominantly over 60 years of age with the most targeted demographic being females aged between 80 and 89 years.

Courier fraud is where fraudsters call someone, pretending to be a police officer or bank official, warning that there are corrupt bank staff, intent on stealing their money, and ask for their help. Typically, the caller then tells the victim to withdraw a sum of money and a courier is sent to collect it.

The ultimate aim of this call is to trick them into handing over money or their bank details.

Common techniques used by the fraudsters include telling the victim to withdraw large sums of cash or go and buy high value items. Sometimes they instruct the victim to leave their bank cards in an envelope somewhere safe. In all cases, a ‘courier’ will then come and pick up the cash, expensive item or envelope, on behalf of the police or bank. They will often come to the victim’s home address.

Last year a taxi driver in North Somerset thwarted a courier fraud incident when he became suspicious when taking a woman to the bank. His taxi had been pre-booked – allegedly by the woman’s relative – but after the taxi driver discovered the woman was planning to withdraw a large sum of money when she got to the bank, he became suspicious.

He alerted bank officials who advised the police and the large cash withdrawal was stopped.

Our message is – don’t discuss your finances with anyone who calls you out of the blue, even if they claim to be a police officer or a representative from a bank fraud department..

If you know someone who may be vulnerable to this type of offence, please speak to them and share our crime prevention tips and remind them of the threat from telephone fraudsters.

People who receive a call on their landline and are asked to contact their local police station or bank to verify the caller’s details ideally need to put the receiver down and not touch it for five minutes, just in case the fraudster has kept the line open. Ensure you have a dialling tone before re-using. Ideally use another phone such as a mobile phone or a neighbour’s phone and use 101 to verify the call.

We would also appeal to taxi drivers who are asked to collect parcels – especially from elderly – to be vigilant and contact us if they are suspicious.

DS Louise Sinclair of Avon and Somerset Police’s Complex Crime Unit said: “Victims of courier fraud tend to be elderly, living alone and trusting of the police and other official organisations.

“It is important we all play our part in protecting these vulnerable members of our community, informing them this type of crime is happening and encouraging them to report any attempts of courier fraud – successful or not – to Action Fraud and the police.

07/01/20 9788 Somerset Telephone Fraud

We are reminding people to be on their guard against telephone fraudsters following incidents in Somerset.

One person was scammed out of £5000 by the heartless fraudsters but two people thwarted the scammers by cutting the callers off. The latest incidents appear to have been targeting people living in the Chard area – particularly the elderly and vulnerable, although they could easily try other areas. We want people to be vigilant and on their guard against telephone fraudsters.

In the latest incident the scammers posed as officers from the Metropolitan Police, claiming that the victim’s grandson had been arrested for using a cloned copy of their bank card, encouraging the victim to confirm their bank card details.

In another call they claimed that there was a major investigation into the victim's bank and local post office, involving counterfeit money. He was asked to support the investigation by withdrawing cash and checking the serial numbers of the notes. They claimed it was fake cash and said a courier would be sent to collect the counterfeit notes for forensic examination. In a third incident the potential victim thwarted the scammer by stopping the phone call.

Neither the police nor the banks will ask you for banking details or PIN numbers on the phone. Similarly, they would never send a so-called ‘courier’ to collect bank cards or money. Our message is – don’t discuss your finances with anyone who calls you out of the blue, even if they claim to be a police officer or a representative from a bank fraud department. Genuine callers will be happy for you to make an appointment to visit them at a bank branch or police station. They will never ask you to withdraw cash on their behalf; arrange for cash to be collected by a courier; ask for details about your bank card; or ask for the PIN on your card.

If you know someone who may be vulnerable to this type of offence, please speak to them and share our crime prevention tips and remind them of the threat from telephone fraudsters.

People who receive a call on their landline and are asked to contact their local police station or bank to verify the caller’s details ideally need to put the receiver down and not touch it for five minutes, just in case the fraudster has kept the line open. Ensure you have a dialling tone before re-using. Ideally use another phone such as a mobile phone or a neighbour’s phone and use 101 to verify the call.

We would also appeal to taxi drivers who are asked to collect parcels – especially from the elderly – to be vigilant and contact us if they are suspicious. If you believe you have been scammed by a telephone caller, please contact us, quoting reference 5219299839

Attachments:

• courier-fraud-flyer.pdf

26/11/19 9788 Press Release, Warning after telephone fraud incidents in Somerset.

We are warning people to be on their guard following two incidents of attempted telephone fraud in the Crewkerne area.

In both incidents no cash was taken but we are concerned that there may have been other victims who have not reported incidents to us.

The victims were contacted by callers purporting to be from Lloyds Bank and advised there was a problem with their bank debit card and they would be sending someone to collect the cards and that a replacement card would be delivered to their home.

In the first instance the card was collected and PiN number provided but fortunately the victim realised their error and alerted their bank.

In the other incident someone visited the victim who refused to hand over their card.

In both incidents the bogus caller was wearing a high visibility jacket.

We are urging people to be vigilant and on their guard to such calls. Banks will never personally attend a home address to collect or deliver cards or important documents, and bank details and personal information – including PiN numbers – should never be disclosed.

Anyone with information, or has been a victim and wants to make us aware should call us.

We would offer the following advice:

Police and banks will never ask members of the public to give out personal details, such as bank account numbers or PIN numbers over the phone or send a courier to collect bank cards or money.

We advise people not to discuss their finances with anyone calling you out of the blue, even if they claim to be a police officer or representative from the bank. Genuine callers will be happy for you to make an appointment to visit them at a branch of the bank or police station.

If you receive what you believe to be a scam/fraudulent call, end it immediately and call your bank or police. Before making a confirmation phone call either Wait five minutes or Use a different phone (eg mobile or neighbour’s phone) in case your line has been locked by the scammer

If you have any doubts about who you are speaking to, ask for identification. Police officers and other official callers will expect you to check their identity. They won’t mind waiting while you do so.

Taxi services and courier companies in the county who have been made aware of the courier fraud offending and continue to pick up ‘packages’ from victims could face prosecution.

We would also appeal to taxi drivers who are asked to collect parcels – especially from elderly.

If you know someone who may be vulnerable to this type of offence, please speak to them and share our crime prevention tips.

If you can help, please call 101and give the call handler the reference number 5219267904

You can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers 100 per cent anonymously on 0800 555 111or via their Anonymous Online Form.

No personal details are taken, information cannot be traced or recorded and you will not go to court or have to speak to police when contacting Crimestoppers.

31/10/19 7164 FORCEWIDE Suspected Fraud Phone Calls

Please alert any elderly or vulnerable friends, neighbours or relatives to the following scam.

Bath and North East Somerset Trading Standards have been made aware of three residents being contacted by suspected fraudsters who are claiming to be from “Bath Council”, “Safe and Secure” or “Protect Your Home UK”.

The caller say that they are contacting people aged between 50 and 70 to offer home security systems. One resident was offered an ID wrist band for £1, along with a quote for floor sensors which would alert the wristband if there was a flood or fire. The other resident was offered free security equipment, £1 for installation and ongoing maintenance costs to be agreed. Both residents say the caller was extremely convincing. The caller guaranteed that police, ambulance or fire would attend an incident. The telephone number provided to residents does not work and it's believed that this is a SCAM! This may be an attempt to get people’s bank details or to sign residents up to an expensive monthly subscription.

If you have been affected by a similar telephone call, the advice from Trading Standards is to call the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 03454 04 05 06 or report it online at https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/contact-us/consumer-service/

23/10/19 9788 Possible Somerset Brexit Scam

There have been reports from people living in the Devon and Cornwall area about a Brexit Scam. Scammers have been contacting people and claiming that the supply of medicines will be affected by the UK leaving Europe and people will have to pay in advance to ensure their prescriptions won’t be affected. The caller will then try to get their bank details. Although this hasn’t happened in Avon and Somerset as yet, it may only be a matter of time before the scammers try our area.

Always be wary of any unexpected callers who ask for your personal or financial information, especially if they are claiming to be from a bank or the tax office. Scammers will always seize on confusion caused by a major event like Brexit to take money from people. If you have any doubts or concerns about a caller, hang up.

Attachments: