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WISHART WARNS OF NEW PHONE SCAM

The Scottish National Party’s Mr Pete Wishart MP, Member of Parliament for Perth & North Perthshire, has passed on to constituents a warning he has received from Ofcom – the telecommunications industry regulator – regarding a new telephone scam that targets elderly and vulnerable.

Speaking today (Thursday) Mr Wishart said:

“Ofcom have written to me highlighting this scam and I want to make my constituents aware so that they can be alert to the danger.

“The way in which the scam works is that the fraudsters phone their intended victim pretending to be from the bank, the police or some other authority to say that their bank account has been compromised and they need to collect the card.

“Then comes the ‘confidence’ part of this confidence trick - they suggest you hang up and call back to check on a number you have yourself – again your bank or the police – but they do not terminate the call and when you think you are dialling a genuine number you are in fact still connected to the fraudster.

“They then ask you to read out your PIN or type it on your phone keypad – they can tell which keys have been pressed.

”Finally, they send a taxi or courier to you to collect your bank card. With this and the PIN they can empty your bank account.

“Neither the Police or the banks will ever ask for your PIN or bank card. If you are contacted by someone who asks for these, hang up.

“Use a different phone line to report it to the police using the 101 number (or allow at least five minutes for the telephone line to automatically clear). If the crime is in progress then call 999 immediately.

“Please remember - always be vigilant when answering telephone calls from people you do not know and remember that you should also never give your PIN or bank card to anyone.”

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