Scam alert – beware unexpected refunds, lottery wins or insurance payouts

Dyfed Powys Police is appealing for people to be on their guard against fraudsters and scams after several reports of residents being conned out of substantial amounts of money or attempts being made by fraudsters to scam them.

 

The scam works by fraudsters calling residents, usually elderly or vulnerable people, telling them they are owed money in the form of refunded bank charges, from a payment protection insurance claim, or from any manner of other types of refund they’re due.

The caller then asks for an administration fee to process the repayment.

In the most recent cases, the victims were asked to pay the admin fee using UKASH vouchers, which are available in many local stores and are a legitimate money transfer service. To do this, the victim was asked to call back and provide the voucher numbers on the pretence that the person on the other end of the phone could check the money was present before transferring the bogus repayment.

However, once the voucher numbers are passed to the fraudster, they can access the funding and steal it from the victim.

Similar scams have taken place before, with fraudsters calling out of the blue and claiming that the victim is owed money from the following sources:

• The caller claims you have won a lottery, but you need to pay an admin fee to release the funds
• The caller claims they have uncovered an insurance policy in your name, but they require an admin fee to be paid before they can release the funds
• The caller claims you are due a council tax rebate, but you need to provide account details or pay a fee to release the funds
• The caller claims you owe money and will be taken to court

Anyone who receives such a call should either call the organisation back by getting their number from the Yellow Pages to verify their authenticity, or report the matter to police if they are suspicious:

Temporary Detective Inspector Andy Wolley from the Dyfed Powys Police Financial Crime Team said, “Anyone who is asked to pay a fee to release money should automatically be wary. In cases involving UKASH vouchers, the victim may think it is OK because the fraudster leads them to believe that they will only cash the voucher after the victim has received the money allegedly due to them. The fraudster asks for the numbers off the voucher as proof that the admin payment is available, but once they’ve got numbers from the voucher, they can access and withdraw the money.

“If anyone is using the UKASH voucher scheme, they should only give the voucher number to people who they trust and who they want the money to go to. I would advise that they treat these vouchers as they would cash. We’d also urge everyone to warn elderly or vulnerable relatives, friends and neighbours so that they do not become victims of these scams”

For further information about protecting yourself from financial crime contact the Action Fraud hotline on 0300 123 2040, or visit www.actionfraud.org.uk

Top tips to protect yourself from fraud:

• Do not give personal details including banking details to anyone either in the street, on the doorstep, over the telephone or on the internet as these details can be used to steal your identity
• Consider registering with the Telephone Preference Service to stop unsolicited telephone calls. This is a free service. Further details can be obtained from www.tpsonline.org.uk or 020 7291 3320. Registration can be made on line or by phone 0845 070 0707

• Consider registering with the Mailing Preference Service as this supports the right to choose the mail you wish to receive. Further details can be obtained from www.mpsonline.org.uk or 020 7291 3310. Registration can be made on line or by phone 0845 703 4599. This is a free service.

• If you are a victim of fraudulent activity this can be reported to Action on Fraud at www.actionfraud.org.uk or telephone 0300 123 2040 or call your local police on 101

• Refunds on services received (Council tax or Inland Revenue etc) will generally be made by the billing authority

• Beware of cold calls even when the caller appears to have personal information such as your address or bank account details. Legitimate callers will never be offended if you ask to call back in order to confirm their identity; when doing so always use a phone number that you’ve obtained from previous correspondence or an independent source such as phone book or an official website.