Don't be a victim of telephone fraud

Police are reminding the public to be vigilant about telephone scams and to follow some simple advice to prevent them from becoming a victim of this crime as we head into the New Year.

Detectives at Liskeard are investigating two recent reports of fraud from Saltash and Torpoint. On both occasions the callers have claimed to be from high street banks and have conned people into transferring money to them. This scam has applied to both individuals and businesses.

The scammers tell the victims their bank cards have been stolen or cloned and used fraudulently, they are then duped into transferring money to new account numbers over the telephone, believing moving the money will ensure it is in a safe place.

To reassure the victims, they are often asked to contact a false helpline or told to redial a legitimate number. If this is done quickly the previous call may still have been kept open and the victim may still be talking to one of the fraudsters instead of their own bank. In this way confidential details are inadvertently being given to the fraudsters.

Over 150 crimes of this nature have been reported to the Devon and Cornwall Police this year with total losses running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

If you receive a phone call of this nature, police advise you to:

End the phone call immediately. Wait at least five minutes to clear the line from the scammer before making any other calls, or use another phone.

Report the offence as soon as possible to police by telephoning 101.

Remember:

Your bank will never come to your home.

Your bank and the police will never collect your bank card or cash.

Your bank and the police will never ask for your PIN.

Anyone with any information about this fraud can contact police on 101.