Bank Courier Fraud in Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire Police have received two reports locally of a national con-trick which

people need to be aware of.

In one instance, an 87 year old man from Kensworth was conned out of £15,000 by

fraudsters using this story this week. Another man, also from Kensworth was

contacted in the same way, but became suspicious and did not hand over any

money.

Both were contacted via phone by someone pretending to be from the police and told

to empty their bank accounts due to a fraud danger. A courier from the bank would

be along to their house when they had done that to collect the money and put it

somewhere safe.

This is a national scam known as the courier scam and it has many variations

but usually follows this method:

 

 A fraudster will cold call you on a landline, claiming to be from your bank or

the police. They state their systems have spotted a fraudulent payment on

your card or it is due to expire and needs to be replaced.

 In order to reassure you that they are genuine, they suggest that you hang up

and ring the bank/police back straight away. However, they don’t disconnect

the call from the landline so that when you dial the real phone number for

your bank or the police, you are actually still speaking to the fraudster.

 They then ask you to read out your PIN or type it on your phone keypad. They

may ask for details of other accounts you hold with the bank or financial

service provider.

 Finally, they send a courier to you to collect your bank card. The fraudster will

have then obtained your name, address, full bank details, card and PIN.

 

Obviously in the Kensworth incident, the courier was collecting the cash which the

victim had withdrawn from his own account. The other intended victim became

suspicious and used another number to contact his bank who told him it was a scam.

Banks do contact customers about potential security threats, but will never ask for

your PIN number, or send a courier to your home, or collect your bank card. Neither

will the police. If you receive a call like this, end it immediately and report it to

 

www.actionfraud.police.uk./  Actionfraud also has a wealth of information about this

and other scams, along with prevention tips and advice for victims.