Burnham-On-Sea Police have warned residents to be extra vigilant after several householders have been targeted by a financial phone scam.
Residents in Burnham and surrounding villages have been telephoned by people claiming to be either police or bank officials.
They are given a convincing story and asked to provide their personal bank details over the phone or asked to withdraw large sums of money for a courier to collect.
Some victims have been told their bank cards have been stolen or fraud has been identified on their accounts. Police say the callers are very convincing and persistent.
A Burnham Police spokeswoman told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Several people in Burnham and the local area have now been targeted and we are keen to get the warning message out.”
“Some of the callers have been claiming to be from the Met Police investigating financial fraud. They say they to want to verify your bank card and ask for bank details and other personal information – which should never be given out.”
“We are urging local people to be extra cautious and not to send money following a call or give personal details out over the phone.”
She added: “If callers claim to be from the police we ask residents to be extra cautious. Let us know and ask the caller for a badge number, then phone the official police number 101.”
Fraud investigator Barrie Douglas of Avon and Somerset Police’s Serious Crime Group added: “We are urging people to be vigilant, especially vulnerable older people, who are specifically being targeted. We advise people not to, under any circumstances, give out any banking details, especially PIN numbers, personal passwords for accounts, card numbers or any other details about their bank accounts. Banks will not ask for PIN number details and will not send out couriers to collect either cash or bank cards.”
“They should also contact us and their bank to report any suspicious calls of this kind and arrange for cards to be cancelled if any card details have been given out. If possible contact a friend, neighbour or family member to assist you in contacting the police or bank, using a different phone. In some cases we are aware that phone lines have been held open by the offenders.”
“In one incident this week a man was duped into withdrawing £8,000 from his account to be collected by a courier. However he became suspicious and alerted us. Under no circumstances should people withdraw cash from their bank accounts as a result of a telephone call.”
