A flurry of scam warnings have been issued for the Isle of Wight this morning (Thursday.)
Trading Standards has reported the following scams:
Bank Account Calls
One Island resident has 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 as she was fed up with receiving the calls, the person who answered sounded very pleasant and plausible and advised her they would open another bank account and she had to go to the bank and withdraw the money £2,000 at a time so as not raise suspicion.
She did this 3 times and posted the money to them.
It wasn’t until she spoke with a family member that they realised it was a scam which they then reported to the police and the bank.
Remember your bank will NEVER contact you in this way and ask you to transfer money to a “safe” account.
Van scam
There have been reports of someone going door-to-door and offering to buy vans.
We’re not entirely sure how this scam would work however suspect they would test drive — possibly paying 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.
Health care calls
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.
Trading Standards targeted with eBay scam!
The Trading Standards email received its own scam the other week — 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 – at which point 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.
As this was obviously a scam it was easy to identify however if you aren’t sure look at the senders actual email address – it may say eBay but the address behind it will be somebody's personal address.
Forward scam emails to [email protected]
Copycat websites
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.
BT Scam
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.
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