Fraudsters con Islanders out of thousands - police say beware

Monday 29 September 2014

Fraudsters are targeting elderly and vulnerable Islanders in a sophisticated scam that has already seen them take thousands of pounds from Islanders in the last few days.

The police have taken the unusual step of issuing a specific warning about telephone fraudsters targeting old people. The last few days have seen several incidents of fraudsters pretending to be bank workers or police officers reporting dodgy card activity, and asking their victims to call them back to confirm their identity – the catch is that the line stays open, so when the victim tries to make a fresh call to the bank or police, the fraudsters are still on the line.

Detective Inspector Dave Burmingham, the head of the Police and Customs Joint Financial Crimes Unit, said that bank scams were a wicked crime that targeted the elderly and vulnerable.

He said that anyone who isn’t sure about a call should remember that banks will never ask you to transfer money, and offered three points of advice: never give your PIN or bank card details to any cold callers; if you are contacted by someone who asks for those details, hang up; and use a different phone to report the call to police or allow at least five minutes for your phone line to clear automatically.

Det Insp Burmingham said: “Fraudsters have posed as bank officials in the most recent cases, but pretending to be a police officer or other official is also common.

“The fraudsters may be persistent, make repeated calls to the same victim heightening their concern, and stress the importance of urgent action to create more pressure. The fraudster gains the victims confidence and makes them believe their account is compromised.

“A variety of deceptions are used to arrange for the victim to transfer money out of their account and into a new account provided by the fraudster.”