NW Telephone Scam Alerts plus other Scams

This is a message from Val McPherson Chair of Princes Risborough & District NW.

I have been given permission to share this telephone scam which happened to one of my Coordinator's within the Princes Risborough Area.

My land line telephone rang and I was asked if a large transaction to pay EE had been made by me. I was told that the debit would be processed unless I pressed 1 to respond that I had not made the request. 

By pressing 1, I thought this would open a link and within minutes I was told the FCA ( Financial Conduct Authority) would deal with this as they acted for all banks. This was followed by a call from WhatsApp from someone calling himself Michael Ross of FCA who quoted a reference number. Both my phone numbers were then occupied by the scammers for a couple of hours with various messages received together with what appeared to be a purchase order for a replacement mobile phone. 

I was then told to place my debit and credit cards in an envelope for collection with replacements to be provided the next day. This was a red flag to me and I said I would not part with my cards without authority from my bank which I knew would not be forth coming. 

They said their courier was now very close to arriving, so I locked all doors and rang 101 in the hope that an officer might be available to call in anticipation of the visit. 

Having cut the lines to the scammers they gave up and I heard no more from them.

 Our police have taken this scam very seriously with our PCSO calling at my home and a follow up call from TVP Fraud the next day.

Please be very careful if you receive a call similar to this and do not press any links.

Winter Fuel Payments Scam

Last year criminals targeted adults between August and October in the UK and a big possibility they will do it again. Please remember most Winter Fuel payments are made automatically. You should not need to apply and you will never be asked to give personal or banking details by text or email.

RingGo parking Scam

If you receive a text message claiming you owe unpaid parking fees from a routine review or billing review do not click the link or reply. Fraudsters are targeting drivers with convincing text messages and impersonation parking Apps like RingGo, threatening enforcement or legal action if you do not pay immediately. Contact RingGo directly to speak to their customer services to sort out any problem.

Please all be careful and stay safe.

Best regards

Val