Mark Rochell
May 10, 2023
3:05 pm

Scam Alerts

A resident reported receiving incessant phone calls about a compromise to her bank account – advising her to press a number to be put through to the Fraud Squad. She did this, the person who answered sounded very pleasant and plausible and advised her that they would open her another bank account and she had to go to the bank and withdraw the money £2000 at a time so as not raise suspicion and post the money to them. Remember your bank will NEVER contact you in this way and ask you to transfer money to a “safe” account.
One of our IWASP partners has reported someone knocking their door and offering to buy one of their vans. We’re not entirely sure how this scam would work however suspect they would test drive – or pay a deposit and then disappear with the van. There were similar reports about motor homes a couple of years ago. NEVER engage with somebody on your doorstep whether buying or selling.
A resident has reported receiving frequent calls from a health care company offering her a pendant that she can press if she ever has a fall. DO NOT engage with these callers, they may send you a pendant which will be pretty useless and will take monthly payments from your account. If you need a product like this or any kind of care do your own research, ask friends or family to help you if you are unsure.
The Trading Standards email received its own scam the other week!! An email purporting to be from ebay confirming an order of over £800. It asks you to call a number if you didn’t place the order – we suspect this is where the scam will involve lengthy phone conversations and the scammer will ask you to allow remote access to your device – NEVER allow anyone remote access to any of your devices. Forward scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk
Beware of copycat websites – an Island resident tried to renew his driving licence online using what he thought was the GOV.UK website. The site charged him £14 to renew. His licence arrived and he noticed he had been charged £89, the following month a further £89 was debited from his account. Be very careful when renewing or applying for important documents such as Driving Licence, Passport, Blue Badge and ensure that you have accessed the Governments web site and not a copy site. Not only can they take money from your account they will have harvested all of your personal details at the same time which could be used in future scams.
Scammers are calling purporting to be from BT claiming that there are problems on your phone and internet – This will be a scam – no communications provider will contact you in this way.