Action Fraud is supporting the Trading Standards’ and Citizen Advise Bureau’s Scam Awareness month, which tells people; ‘Don’t be rushed, don’t be hushed’. This advice couldn’t be more pertinent, as it comes at a time when Action Fraud has seen a significant amount of reports about a Vishing scam which involves bogus police officers.
Over the last two months, Action Fraud has received 168 reports of a scam which starts with the fraudster pretending to be a police officer.
Victim’s reports say that they receive a phone call from a police officer who often quotes a badge number beginning with ‘EK’, this bogus police officer then tells them that their bank card has been compromised or cloned and that they need to contact their bank.
They keep the victim on the phone and ask them a few details about their bank account and then say that due to the amount of money in their account, they should phone 999 or 101 and ask to speak to the Serious Fraud Squad.
The fraudster stays on the line whilst the victim makes the call; the victim believes they are speaking to the police and when they are asked to verify their claim by providing their bank account details, they give it to the bogus police officer who then has full access to their bank account.
The victim is told by the bogus police officer that they cannot tell anyone about their case as it is part of a much bigger ongoing investigation.
Protection advice:
- The police would never make a call of this nature, so don’t engage with the fraudster, just hang-up the phone.
- Never give bank details over the phone.
- Don’t be rushed; the fraudsters will deliberately rush you, so that you feel you need to give them information quickly, even if they say it is important, don’t give them any personal information.
- If you want to give your bank a call after one of these phone calls, always use a different phone line to do so.
- Don’t be hushed by the fraudster if you think you have received one of these phone calls or think you’re a victim of this type of fraud, always report it to Action Fraud.
To report a fraud and receive a police crime reference number, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.
You can now also sign up for free to Action Fraud Alert to receive direct, verified, accurate information about scams and fraud in your area by email, recorded voice and text message.
