Scam warning
POLICE have issued a fresh warning on the dangers of being duped by conmen targeting the Borders.
Already this year several members of the public have been scammed out of money totalling tens of thousands of pounds.
An Earlston pensioner lost a four-figure sum last month after being falsely told he was due a refund from Sky TV.
There have also been instances of people receiving calls from individuals pretending to be from magazines, the Post Office, Microsoft and even the police.
As a result, Lothian and Borders Police are reminding Borderers to be on their guard at all times.
A spokesman said: “You should be wary of unsolicited callers either by telephone or to their front door. There are a number of common scams where fraudsters will call pertaining to be from well-known organisations and will attempt to obtain bank or credit card details from you. You should be very cautious about passing out personal details and should never give out bank account or credit card details.
“Fraudsters will often use the appeal of telling members of the public that they have won a prize or sum of money to entice the person to pass details in order to claim the prize or have the sum of money sent to their account.
“Legitimate organisations will never cold-call you and ask for your bank or card details.”
The spokesman added that if in doubt, the public should ask for the name and department, and then phone them using a number that you know relates to that organisation, not one that the caller has provided.
The National Fraud Authority estimated this year that scams cost the UK £73billion a year.
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Saturday 25 May 2013
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