Bank cards scam costs £750,000
Published on 23 May 2012 01:30 PM
More people are being duped by a phone scam which leads to them handing over their bank cards to conmen.
The Payment Council's education campaign Pay Your Way revealed that £750,000 has been lost to this crime during the first four months of 2012, which is the same amount that was stolen throughout last year.
The scam, which has seen a three-fold increase, involves someone calling a landline claiming to be from the victim's bank.
They tell the resident that their debit or credit card needs to be replaced due to fraud activity on their account.
If the person becomes suspicious, the conman suggests they hang up and call their bank to verify the situation.
But the fraudster simply stays on the line, tricking them into believing they have called their bank, and then gets them to key in their pin number.
Afterwards, a courier is sent to pick up the card and take it to the fraudster, who can then use it.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Barnard said: 'If you think you have become a victim of fraud on your account, you should contact your bank in the first instance, although if there is a crime in progress you should call 999 straightaway.'
Banks never call customers to say they are going to collect cards in this way and consumers have been warned not to hand their cards over.
Copyright Press Association 2012