PC Irvine from Police Scotland North East Crime Reduction Unit would like to remind people of the ongoing issues with Authorised Push Payment Fraud.
‘We continue to see examples of criminals pretending to be from your Bank or HMRC. We have had numerous calls in relation to this in the North East recently. They make contact via email, phone, text message or social media, to warn you of fake suspicious and fraudulent activity on your bank account. They tell you they’ve set up a safe account in a random name for you to transfer your funds into however this is actually their account.’
How to protect yourself
- Be suspicious of a call out of the blue from someone claiming to be from a position of authority.
- Take down the person’s details (name, authority, branch, department etc.) and verify using independent source contact details.
- A genuine official from Police, Bank, HMRC or any trusted source will NEVER call you to ask you to verify your personal banking details, Pin, password or threaten you with arrest.
- NEVER transfer money into another account unless you are 100% certain of the account owner.
Your bank will NEVER set up a safe account for you. If you fall for a scam contact your bank as soon as possible, as they may, be able to stop the transfer.
If you receive a suspicious message via email, website or text message, you can take the following actions:
- Email - if you feel unsure about an email you have received, you can forward it to the Suspicious Email Reporting Services at report@phishing.gov.uk
- Website - If you have come across a website which you think is fake, you can report it here to the National Cyber Security Centre
- Text message - Report suspicious text messages for free to 7726. Your provider can investigate the text and take action if found to be fraudulent.
