Public urged to be vigilant over telephone banking fraud

Police Scotland is urging members of the public to be vigilant following recent reports of telephone banking fraud.

This week alone, officers in Edinburgh were made aware of three separate incidents on the 21, 22 and 24 September, 2020, where five figure sums of money were stolen from bank accounts.

In each of these cases, the victims reported that they received telephone calls from someone with a local accent, claiming to be from the fraud team of their local bank branch and who appeared to be calling from a genuine bank telephone number.

The caller then asked the person to transfer funds into a separate account which appears to be operated by the fraudsters.

PC Greig Stephen, of the Prevention, Intervention and Partnerships team in Edinburgh, said: “Those targeted by these incidents have been left shaken by what has happened and I would urge everyone to be wary of any online or telephone scams that are related to finances.

“If you are speaking to someone on the phone, please do not give them any personal information or bank details, even if they seem to know some of your details already.

“Many fraudsters use advanced techniques to make them appear genuine and it is important to remember that your bank would never ask you to transfer money to another account.

“I would advise anyone who receives a call like this to politely hang up and contact their bank directly to discuss any irregularities surrounding their bank account.

“If anyone has concerns surrounding this type of incident or has received a call of a similar nature, I would ask that you contact police on 101.”

For further advice on keeping safe, please visit our website - https://www.scotland.police.uk/keep-safe/personal-safety/identity-theft-fraud-and-scams.