Sigh, there’s one born every minute…
A so-called courier scam involving people being persuaded to hand over their bank cards to criminals has lost victims more than £3m, since 2011.
New figures from the Metropolitan Police show that 2,967 people in London were targeted from January 2011 until September 2013.
“Courier fraud” involves criminals phoning victims pretending to be from an authority to extract pin details.
The fraudsters then send a courier to pick up the victim’s bank card.
Okay, I do realise that scammers and fraudsters can be quite sophisticated and if you’ve not seen the scam before, sometimes it can take a moment or two to see though it. For example the WhatsApp scam trying to get you to upload malware to your phone, or the latest email that purports to be from Amazon. However, even a moment of thought will allow you to see them for what they are. Likewise, when someone sends a courier round to relive you of your bank card. Banks do not do this, they have never done this and they never will do this – likewise they never, never, never ask you to divulge your PIN. The only people who will do this are the scumbags trying to steal from you.
So, no matter how convincing these bastards sound, it is obvious from very early in the call that they are fraudsters. If you let them have the information necessary to steal your hard-earned, frankly, you deserve all you get (or lose, if you like).
As for the vulnerable who are less savvy and clued up – well get a Truecall unit. The arseholes won’t be able to get through in the first place. If it’s a mobile, install a call blocking app. End of problem.
Sadly, a ‘moment of thought’ seems to be beyond even those so used to telling us what to do and think:
http://thylacosmilus.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/you-fooled-me-you-must-be-soooper-genius.html
Yes, it really is that simple isn’t it? No.
I am in a position to guide and coach my very elderly parents to be on their guard against the latest scams, which, coupled with their own innate caution, keeps them away from these folk. My uncle, however, has Parkinsons, and the disease has turned a savvy and intelligent businessman into an enthusiastic believer in every get-rich-quick scheme which comes his way. If anyone tries to explain this to him or stop him he becomes secretive, aggressive and even violent. His son and I have collaborated on a number of covert measures to prevent him emptying the family bank accounts. But without our efforts, would my uncle or his wife not deserve any sympathy?
‘Vulnerable’ has been rendered meaningless by the social justice warriors who want everyone to join a victim group and sign up for state dependency, but some people are actually vulnerable in the old definition.
I would consider your uncle vulnerable and that’s why I actively recommend the Truecall units. it will stop these calls at the gates.
My mother in law is unbelievably gullible to these things, but has the intelligence to check with us first. If I was concerned that she was losing her wits to the point where she didn’t ask, a Truecall would be installed pretty sharpish.
I do still get the investment boiler room scams getting through to my mobile and they get short shrift and added to my block list.
XX His son and I have collaborated on a number of covert measures to prevent him emptying the family bank accounts. XX
From the sound of it, he has mid to late stage Parkinsons, possibly with the starts of alzheimers (Side effects of Parkinsons medication can bring on Alzheimers….)
Has no one told you about “Power of attorney”?
SIMPLE, go to a fucking SOLICITOR, and make an application to the courts to take ALL monetary powers off him. Then it does not matter WHO tries to get his money, his card details, or whatever, becaue YOU have the card, the PIN, and any money that leaves the bank must be signed for by YOU!
IF you are that concerned.
It would appear, if you have not heard of it/tried it, you are not.
My elderly mother got an email from a bank yesterday. The fact that is not the one she uses immediately had me investigating further. I showed her the full header (which I suspect the majority of people wouldn’t be aware of). I copied the contained IP addresses into Google and, sure enough, lots of hits with “phishing” & “scam” in them. One had a cached copy of the usual Nigerian style “sob story” which would have the recipient clicking on a link. I HOPE she won’t fall for any of these (possibly when I’m out), but as PT Barnum says the aging process can do unfortunate things…
I have one of BT’s call blocking phones – it may not be as sophisticated as the Truecall but does a fairly good job. It doesn’t alter the fact that a number of UK based companies ring EVERY day trying to offer PPI refunds. The Telephone Preference Service is, unfortunately, next to useless at stopping this, and completely unable to deal with the International calls that also arrive daily. It really is time that a centralised number blocking service was organised – ISP’s already do this with email, mainly to reduce their network load.
Numerous forums have the worst offenders listed – instead of the TPS and/or Ofcom sitting on their collective arses for months while they decide what to do, these numbers should quickly be added to network block lists, and the originating numbers disconnected or temporarily suspended. This is exactly what happens when an IP address is found to be sending large numbers of spam messages. Yes it won’t be perfect, but the ever increasing deluge of unwanted phone calls is fast making telephones a questionable facility.
I’ve blocked all international calls with the Truecall. Also, unless they are on our recognised caller list, they have to leave a message.