People with home computers in Kenilworth, Warwickshire are being targeted by cyber criminals Warwickshire Police have warned this afternoon (Friday 5 February 2016). Earlier this morning a resident was subjected to an attempt to raid their bank account and despite a lengthy conversation by telephone the resident thankfully did not give out their bank details.
Householders with computers need to be vigilant when receiving any telephone calls purporting to be from internet providers such as “Talk Talk” “Virgin” or “BT”.
These calls are a SCAM and residents not heeding warnings or advice run a serious risk of losing the contents of their bank account and running up any pre authorised overdraft limits on their account.
The caller will typically ask the householder to turn their computer on and then will appear to go through a number of processes to rid the householders computers of any errors or bugs in the system. Once this part of the scam is completed they then move on to say they are sorry the system was affected and they would like to compensate the householder for the inconvenience.
They will typically say they wish to award the householder a sum of between £200 and £300. Then they ask for the householders bank account and sort code details so they can make a payment to your account. Don’t believe it, it’s a con.
Any householder that provides these details will have their bank account cleared out.
Note: Where a bank account holder freely provides the details of their account to a third party the bank will NOT reimburse the account holder for any theft from the account that takes place as a consequence.
These people can and often do sound very plausible. They are practised in all the tricks to fool a person into thinking they are genuine. DON’T FALL FOR IT AND GET CLEANED OUT.
A second and similar scam has also been experienced by some Kenilworth residents. Again the scam takes place with a telephone call, this time an individual pretends to be from the computer software giant “Microsoft”. They tell the householder that there is a problem with their computer and they are ringing to fix it.
Similar to scam mentioned earlier the caller pretends to carry out a number of actions to “repair the computer”. Once they say that is finished they ask for payment. They may ask for bank account details such as account number and sort code or debit card details. Once the householder provides them the bank account will be cleared out within minutes.
Crown Watch would like to provide some key points to always remember about these type of events:
- Computer companies and Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) NEVER ring up asking for bank account details.
- Microsoft DO NOT call customers at home to “repair computers” or “resolve problems”.
- NEVER provide your bank details to anyone unless you are seeking a service or you know the company.
- DO NOT provide your date of birth details to anyone you do not know, despite who they say they are.
- Be aware that if you are not careful and vigilant about these type of events it could cost you dearly. A theft of your money will not be reimbursed back to your account by a bank if you freely provided the account details to third party.
- If you live next to an older person who may be vulnerable then take some time out with them to check they know these things but do so without alarming them.
- If you get one if these calls them terminate it immediately and check when you pick up the receiver the next time that you have got a dialling tone. If you haven’t got a dialling tone it means the scammers have kept your line open and can still hear you when the receiver is lifted. Replace the receiver several times to try and clear the call. In the unlikely event that doesn’t work use a neighbours phone or a mobile and call your telephone provider and ask them to test and clear the line.
If you receive one of these calls then please inform the Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 1111. Alternatively you can call Warwickshire Trading Standards on 01926 410410.
Kenilworth Watch 