Police are urging people to guard against phone Scams. Several methods have been used by fraudsters to try and con victims out of cash.
A 53-year-old woman in the Buntingford area was contacted by a woman who claimed to be from BT and told the victim they had viruses on their computer. The victim was then transferred to a ‘security expert’ who accessed her computer remotely. The offender then became threatening and told the victim to go to Tesco and purchase £5,000 worth of iTunes vouchers. Officers intervened and no purchase was made.
87-year-old man from Markyate was contacted and told that he owed £500 to HMRC. The victim was persuaded to purchase £500 worth of iTunes vouchers as payment and read the codes over the phone to the offender.
65-year-old man from Stevenage was contacted by a man claiming to be from HMRC who stated he owed taxes. The victim was told to purchase iTunes vouchers from outlets and read the codes over the phone. He then transfered money over to a Bitcoin account. He lost £11,500 to the fraudsters.
Phone scams have been received in Hertsmere, offenders call victims and claim to be police officers investigating fraudulent activity on their bank accounts. They then ask the victims to hand cash or bank cards over to a courier as part of a false investigation. No money was lost on these occasions.
DS Jon Leak, who leads the investigation team, said: “We continue to bring offenders to justice. Convictions have already been secured, these scams are still occurring using a variety of methods. Many people recognise them for what they are and refuse to part with any money. People are still falling prey to these fraudsters and lose thousands of pounds. You will never be asked by Police, Banks or HMRC, to purchase iTunes vouchers as payment. Police and Banks would never ask for your PIN or for you to hand cash and bank cards over to a courier.”