North Wales Police warns of phone fraudsters after elderly Flintshire man loses thousands

North Wales Police are urging people to be aware of phone fraudsters following an incident where an elderly gentleman from Caergwrle lost £6,000 of his life savings.

They say a phone fraudster called claiming to be the man’s bank, telling him he had to transfer the money to a “safe account” and “not to mention it to anyone”.

Banks do not do this, so it is imperative people be aware of how the scams work, police say.

The scammers will say the victim needs to act quickly to protect their money, their solution being to transfer the money to the supposed “safe account” which they control.

Another way they can defraud someone is by asking the victim to assist in a police investigation whereby they are told to visit a bank with “corrupt staff” supposedly issuing fake currency.

They are then asked to withdraw large sums of cash to take home, the fraudster subsequently posing as a policeman or courier when coming to collect and steal the money.

A tactic called ‘number spoofing’ is often used which enables the fraudster to alter their phone number to match the victim’s bank number.

They will ask the person to check their handset display in order to convince them it is their bank calling, which it is not.

A third alternative involves the scammer claiming the victim is due a refund for poor internet connection service.

When getting their bank details, they say they “accidentally” send thousands rather than hundreds of pounds, subsequently making them “lose” their job to which they ask for the difference to be refunded by the victim.

A fourth alternative involves the scammer telling the victim their computer has a virus or their internet connection is slow.

They will ask to take control of their computer, to which they install software which steals data.

It is therefore important to be wary of any unsolicited phone calls when asked for personal or financial details.

The police or bank will never ask to transfer money, send someone to collect money, ask to check the phone’s display number matches their registered number or anything else requiring a quick response.

If anything at all is suspicious about a call, just hang up the phone.