Older residents are being warned to watch out for a scam where fraudsters claim to be a police officer or bank official and ask for their bank details. Enfield Council in north London and the Metropolitan Police are advising older residents to hang up at once or shut the door if anyone contacts them and asks for these details of their bank account, credit or debit card or PIN number.
Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety, Chris Bond, said: “There is absolutely no reason why a legitimate police officer or a bank employee would ask for your pin number or bank card, or require you to take money out of your account so please don’t do what these people are asking, just hang up on them.
“The people responsible for this scam sound plausible but are thoroughly reprehensible creatures who wreck people’s lives through deceit and lies, please don’t be caught out by them. Regrettable, we know they are targeting pensioners because they know that they are more likely to large savings, so make sure you don’t hand yours over to a criminal”
Detective Inspector Yasmin Lalani of Enfield Police said: “Treat all callers as bogus until you can satisfy yourself that they are genuine. Fraudsters are very plausible and are skilled in persuasion, remember you cannot win a prize in a competition that you have not entered and if it appears too good to be true then it is. Ask yourself is it likely that someone you don’t know, who has contacted you out of the blue, will give you something for nothing ? The answer is ‘no’.
“Never give personal information, such as bank account or pin numbers, to anyone over the phone, unless you initiated the call and know you’ve reached the right agency. If you get a call from someone asking asking personal details then you can tell them ‘I don’t give out personal information over the phone. I’ll contact the company directly.'”
If you receive a call you’re not expecting, you should be suspicious, the authorities say. The things to remember are that your bank and the police would:
• Never ask for your bank account details or PIN number over the phone, so do not disclose these to anyone, no matter who they claim to be.
• Never ask you to withdraw money and send it to them via a courier, taxi or by any other means.
• Never ask you to send your bank cards, or any other personal property, to them via courier, taxi or by any other means.
If you are not happy with a phone call and are suspicious of the conversation you have with the caller then please end the call and contact police via the non-emergency number, 101. Also, when reporting a suspicious phone call to police, wait some minutes before attempting to make the call to ensure you’re not reconnected to the offender.
