Police are warning people across Cumbria to be on be vigilant to scam phone calls from fraudsters.

This follows a report made to police yesterday (November 29) in which the victim was contacted by the fraudster claiming to be from her bank and that their bank cark had expired, and she is due to be issued a new one.

The following day a male attending the victims address in Barrow and introduced himself as a police officer who needed to carry out fingerprint checks on her cards. He also offered to take her jewellery for safekeeping.

The male left with the cards and later posted them back through the door after having made a number of transactions with the cards.

The scams fit the pattern of fraudsters pretending to be officials, such as bank fraud teams, police officers or HMRC officials.  

However, the scams can differ slightly from call to call.

But the fraudsters often request bank details, money to be sent electronically, cash to be withdrawn at the bank for collection or expensive items to be bought for collection at a later time.

Police and other agencies would never request this.

If you have any concern that the person on the phone may be a fraudster, put the phone down and call the police from a different phone on 101 for advice and guidance.

Officers are asking anyone who has been victim to such a scam to come forward.

If you receive a call you’re not expecting, you should be suspicious. The vital things to remember are that your bank, other agencies and the police would:

  • Never ask you for your bank account details or PIN number over the phone. 
  • Never ask you to withdraw money and send it to them via a courier, taxi, bank transfer or by any other means.
  •  Never ask you to send your bank cards or any other personal property to them via courier, taxi or by any other means.
  • If you have any doubts about the identity of the person that you are speaking with, put the phone down and attend the bank or police station in person, wherever possible, to discuss the call you have received, or call a trusted number for the bank or police using a different telephone than the one that you have been contacted on.
  • It’s recommended you wait at least five minutes and make sure you can hear a dialling tone before you call, as there have been cases of fraudsters keeping the line open after a victim has hung up.

Police ask that the public please share this information with any vulnerable friends or family.

If you think you have been the victim of a fraud you can report this to police on 101 and to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 – or by visiting their website at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/