Courier scam: We have been made aware of two very recent incidents of Suffolk residents who have been contacted by someone purporting to be the Police. In the first report the Suffolk resident received a call from a gentleman explaining that he was calling from Martlesham Police Station, and that all the lady's money had been stolen from her bank account. He went on to explain that he was investigating and he required some information from her bank card. The caller asked for the numbers of her card, including the security code on the bank. Thankfully this was not provided, but only because the Suffolk resident was unable to read the numbers. In the second incident the Suffolk resident was contacted by someone purporting to be a Police Officer from Bedfordshire Police. The caller advised that he was investigating fraudsters and wanted the victim’s help with enquiries, and that she needed to withdraw cash from the bank. What made this more plausible was they advised they had a gentleman in custody who was claiming to be related to the resident, and they gave a name which was the same as her Grandson. The fake Police Officer advised the victim to go to her bank and withdraw £5000 in cash, she was told to tell the teller at the bank that this was for "shopping and presents during the current crisis". Upon arriving back home a courier arrived. She had been given a password to use by the fake Police Officer, and told to use this with the courier to make sure the money was not passed to another individual. Later that afternoon the victim realised that she had been scammed. This scam is known as the Courier Scam, with victims targeted across the Country. Courier fraud occurs when a fraudster contacts victims by telephone purporting to be a police officer or bank official. To substantiate this claim, the caller might be able to confirm some easily obtainable basic details about the victim such as their full name and address.The caller may also offer a telephone number for the victim to telephone or ask the victim to call the number on the back of their bank card to check that they are genuine. In these circumstances, either the number offered will not be genuine or, where a genuine number is suggested, the fraudster will stay on the line and pass the victim to a different individual.
Protect yourself
- Your bank or the police will never call you to ask you to verify your personal details or PIN by phone or offer to pick up your card by courier. Hang up if you get a call like this.
- If you need to call your bank back to check, wait five minutes; fraudsters may stay on the line after you hang up. Alternatively, use a different line altogether to call your bank.
- Your debit or credit card is yours – don’t let a stranger take it off you. You should only ever have to hand it over at your bank. If it’s cancelled, you should destroy it yourself.
- Your bank or the police will never call you to ask you to verify your personal details or PIN by phone or offer to pick up your card by courier. Hang up if you get a call like this.
- If you need to call your bank back to check, wait five minutes; fraudsters may stay on the line after you hang up. Alternatively, use a different line altogether to call your bank.
- Your debit or credit card is yours – don’t let a stranger take it off you. You should only ever have to hand it over at your bank. If it’s cancelled, you should destroy it yourself.
Spot the signs
- Someone claiming to be from your bank or local police force calls you to tell you about fraudulent activity but is asking you for personal information or even your PIN to verify who you are.
- They’re offering you to call back so you can be sure they’re genuine, but when you try to return the call there’s no dial tone.
- They try to offer you peace of mind by having somebody pick up the card for you to save you the trouble of having to go to your bank or local police station.
- If you receive a similar call HANG UP!
Report all scams to us via 0808 223 1133.
If you’ve given your bank details over the phone or handed your card to a courier, call your bank straight away to cancel the card.
Email scam: We've seen a number of reports of people receiving this fake Penalty Charge email. The email claims the recipient has driven on a road that has a charging scheme and as such a penalty is payable. Note however that it does not give details of the vehicle, the location, nor the date or time of the incident. If you receive the same or a similar email, do not click the link. This is a phishing scam designed to steal your personal information and money. If you receive it, forward the email to report@phishing.gov.uk
Facebook scam: Some Facebook pages wanting you to enter their competitions are fakes. There is NO free holiday!! These are fake competitions on a fake pages, run by criminals. The pages have been set up by scammers for ‘like-farming’, using your interaction to harvest personal data. Before liking a page, especially a big business like Center Parcs, check if it has a blue tick. This means the page has been verified by Facebook. You can also look at the Page transparency to see when it was created. The real Center Parcs page was created in August 2010. This fake page was created on 1st April 2020 and changed it’s name on 6th September 2020. The fake Christmas at Lapland page was created on 22nd June 2020 and has only two posts. The Page transparency shows that it is managed by two profiles, one in Brazil, the other in Tanzania. Don’t just look at the competition post. Look at the page history, and the other posts on the page. Does it look genuine? If you come across a fake page on Facebook, report it by going to the page and tap *** from the top right and select “Give feedback or report this Page”. Select “Scams and Fake Pages”. Fake promotions or competitions on Facebook typically urge users to either engage with a Facebook post (e.g. share and comment) to win a prize, or click a link to claim a prize. Or possibly both. Our recommendation is to never interact with these types of Facebook posts.
NHS QR code: From today (24th September), hospitality businesses, close contact services such as hairdressers and beauty salons, leisure, sports and visitor attractions as well as community and villages halls need to display a NHS QR code. With these new measures affecting businesses across Suffolk, there is support available to you to help you meet the requirements of the Regulations. Guidance (with a link to be able to download a QR code poster) is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/maintaining-records-of-staff-customers-and-visitors-to-support-nhs-test-and-trace If you need further advice you can contact us via 0808 223 1133. Customers don’t have to use this QR code if they don’t want to - they can instead provide details to the venue, which must be retained for the 21 days. The NHS coronavirus contact tracing app has now launched across England and Wales. It has a QR code scanning feature, allowing people to check-in to venues they visit and easily share their contact details for test and trace purposes.
Recall: Argos is recalling some of their Cuggl highchairs as there is a risk of a child falling from the highchair. Testing has shown in some cases the back of the highchair could fail, resulting in a child falling. The following Cuggl highchairs are affected: Cuggl Little Sheep Deluxe Highchair, catalogue number 819/5584; Cuggl Plum Deluxe Highchair, catalogue number 759/3187; Cuggl Pumpkin Deluxe Highchair, catalogue number 707/8956. If you have a Cuggl Little Sheep Deluxe Highchair, Cuggl Plum Deluxe Highchair or Cuggl Pumpkin Deluxe Highchair, STOP USING IT IMMEDIATELY and return it to an Argos store for a full refund of £39.99. You do not need a receipt. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Argos on: 0800 0113 462.