Flintshire resident targeted in mobile phone ‘phishing scam’

A Flintshire resident recently received an unsolicited call on their mobile phone stating that the call was a result of pressing ‘5’ in a previous telephone call.

The recipient had not pressed ‘5’ previously.

The caller then requested personal information including any debts they may have.

Police are reminding residents not to give, or confirm, any personal information to unsolicited telephone callers.

Do not  send money by way of voucher or transfer, these are untraceable

In this instance, the recipient put the phone number in their phone book as ‘REJECT COLD CALLER’ in case further calls were received as this would allow them to identify the call as a ‘Cold Caller’.

Phishing  phone calls and scams can be reported to  Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or online at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

More on spotting and avoiding common scams, fraud and schemes online and offline.

The common element in almost all types of internet scams is the initial “phish” which is the act of tricking you into providing some kind of information that is later used to scam you. In most cases, phishing emails attempt to direct you to a clone of a trusted website where you’re likely to enter login credentials, or try to make you download malware. More here: https://www.comparitech.com/vpn/avoiding-common-scams-schemes/