Police are urging residents to be vigilant to cold callers claiming to be police officers following two incidents in the east of the county.   

On Monday 12 November an elderly female victim in Lowestoft received a call on from someone claiming to be a Colchester based police officer informing her that someone has used her account and asked her to provide her bank details to conduct investigations. He also claimed they had a man had been detained for placing a large amount of money into a fraudulent account and said she needed to withdraw a large sum of money from her local bank. The male also arranged for someone to collect a quantity of cash from her property while she was still on the phone. She was also told not to inform her family and friend of the incident for at least 48 hours.

A further incident was reported on 17 November in Southwold with a suspect pretending to be a police officer from Essex phoning an elderly female victim stating she has been scammed and that she needs to withdraw a large amount of money and that a large sum of money needed to be transferred from her savings into her current account.

PC Amy Yeldham from Lowestoft police urged for residents to be vigilant to this scam. She said: "We’re urging members of the public, particularly the elderly who are primarily being targeted, to be vigilant to cold calls made on the telephone. 

"Genuine police officers or staff would never approach residents and ask for cash withdrawals to be made or for people to purchase items on their behalf. 

"I would ask people with vulnerable relatives, friends or neighbours to make sure they are aware of this type of scam.”  

Officers have this advice:

• Never give out personal information about your bank account to anybody over the phone.
• If someone calls claiming to be a police officer, ask for their identification number and police force. Hang up and call 101 using a different phone. If you can’t use a different phone, wait at least five minutes before calling back. A genuine police officer will not mind waiting while you check.
• Police and banks will never ask you to give out personal details such as account numbers or PIN numbers. 
• If you have given out information which could compromise your bank account security in any way, call your bank to cancel your cards as soon as possible.
• Never hand over money to someone at the door to be sent off elsewhere.

Anyone with concerns about such calls should contact Suffolk Constabulary on the non-emergency number 101 or 999 if a crime is in progress. Alternatively, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.

Help us keep our communities safe.

Police advice on a variety of subjects can be accessed via  https://www.suffolk.police.uk/advice

To report something, or to otherwise contact Police, use the link http://www.suffolk.police.uk/contact-us 

To report something anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org

Alternatively call 101 for non-urgent matters.

Police are warning residents to be wary of cold callers following incidents in the county.

Officers have received around 100 calls this week from residents concerned about cold calls from scammers claiming to be from HMRC.

In most cases, scammers have claimed to be from HMRC stating that the person is involved owes payment for a fine. Often this includes leaving a message on answer phones asking the public to call to make payments/ threatening arrest for non-payment and requesting i-tunes vouchers or bitcoins used to pay the debt - these then ask the recipients to call them to make payment or read the codes off the back of vouchers.

Resident should put the phone down on these callers and no money/ vouchers should ever be handed over as these are scam calls.

An HMRC spokesperson said: "HMRC takes security extremely seriously. We are aware that some people have received telephone calls from individuals claiming to be from HMRC. We have a well-known brand, which criminals abuse to add credibility to their scams.

 "These scams often involve people receiving a call out of the blue and being told that HMRC is investigating them. If you can’t verify the identity of the caller, we recommend that you do not speak to them.

 Anyone concerned about incidents should follow this advice:

HMRC Advice:

1. Recognise the signs - genuine organisations like banks and HMRC will never contact you out of the blue to ask for your PIN, password or bank details.

2. Stay safe - don’t give out private information, reply to text messages, download attachments or click on links in emails you weren’t expecting.

3. Take action - forward suspicious emails claiming to be from HMRC to phishing@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk and texts to 60599, or contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 to report any suspicious calls or use their online fraud reporting tool. 

4. Check GOV.UK for information on how to avoid and report scams and recognise genuine HMRC contact.  

5. If you think you have received an HMRC related phishing/bogus email or text message, you can check it against the examples shown in this guide.

Additional advice:

· HMRC will call people about outstanding tax bills, and sometimes use automated messages, however this would include a taxpayer reference number. If uncertain of the caller we would advise customers to hang up and call HMRC directly to check – customers can confirm our call centre numbers on GOV.UK. For tax credits we do not include customer details in any voicemail messages.

 · HMRC Debt management teams do contact members of the public by phone about paying outstanding debts.

· If a customer (or agent) isn’t confident that the call is from HMRC, we will ask them to call back. Depending on the circumstances and to give the customer confidence it is actually HMRC calling, information may be disclosed to the caller which only HMRC is party to.

 · Calls from the majority of HMRC offices will leave caller identification data, i.e. the number the caller has used to contact you from

· For up to date advice on scam HMRC phone calls, visit GOV.UK - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phishing-and-bogus-emails-hm-revenue-and-customs-examples/phishing-emails-and-bogus-contact-hm-revenue-and-customs-examples#bogus-callers

Help us keep our communities safe.

Police advice on a variety of subjects can be accessed via  https://www.suffolk.police.uk/advice

To report something, or to otherwise contact Police, use the link http://www.suffolk.police.uk/contact-us 

To report something anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit www.crimestoppers-uk.org

Alternatively call 101 for non-urgent matters.

Police Connect Team