Your Local Area

Enter your postcode to find local community information schemes and citizens patrols close to you

Telephone Fraudsters

Alert message sent 23/02/2021 15:07:00

Information sent on behalf of South Yorkshire Police

Good afternoon all, I hope everyone is safe and well.

BE SAFE BE SECURE No2 - Telephone Scams.

We are aware that a number of people within South Yorkshire are currently receiving calls from fraudsters, so now is a good time to send out some information to help keep you and your finances safe and secure.

These Fraudsters may claim to be from a number of different agencies, including:

â€¢ HMRC (Her Majestyâ€™s Revenue & Customs)
â€¢ National Insurance
â€¢ The Inland Revenue
â€¢ HM Land & Registry Services

The scam usually follows a similar theme, with the fraudster telling the victim they owe payment in relation to unpaid taxes and there is a warrant out for their arrest if they are not paid. They may also sometimes offer a tax refund, or a Covid19 subsidy payment and ask for your bank details to transfer the funds directly to your account.

Thankfully, many people these days are fairly savvy when it comes to such calls and dismiss them, but for some, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, this can be very distressing. This is why it is important that we share information like this to help people spot the signs.

If you think you have been a victim of this or any other scam, please do report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or go online to actionfraud.police.uk. You can also tell HMRC about the suspected scam by emailing: phishing@hmrc.gov.uk. Be sure to include the date of the call, the phone number used and the content of the call.

In the meantime, follow these few simple steps to help keep yourself safe:

â€¢ Be wary of telephone calls you receive from an official-sounding organisation out of the blue.
â€¢ If in doubt, hang up. Wait for 30 minutes, and then contact the organisation on a trusted number.
â€¢ Genuine representatives wonâ€™t mind if you make checks to see if they are real or not.
â€¢ Genuine representatives will never ask for your bank details over the phone.
â€¢ Consider blocking repeat, or unidentified callers.

Thatâ€™s all for now folks, until next time BE SAFE, BE SECURE.

Regards
Shaun.

Message sent by

Shaun McDermott (Police, PCSO, Barnsley South NPT - Covering Darfield, Wombwell and Hoyland. Allocated beat areas bieng Hoyland and surrounding townships. )

Send a reply

Message tag words

Back to previous page

Click here to tweet this message to your followers

@FollowAlertMessages

Discuss this alert message

Please see terms below before using this feature

Please be aware that the facility above is a Facebook service, posting your views will make some of your Facebook information visible to everyone (as with any Facebook activity).

The system administrators (VISAV Limited) monitor the content added. Any misuse or objectionable material should be reported to support@neighbourhoodalert.co.uk.

The views expressed do not represent the views of the system administrators who are VISAV Limited, the Police, Neighbourhood Watch and other Information Provider using this service.