Police Scotland are warning of recent telephone scam which attempt to steal from people's bank accounts.
The caller states to the victim that they are phoning them as their bank or on behalf
of a fraud investigation team following suspicious activity to their personal bank
account.
The victim is told to await a call from another department, supposedly a
fraud or security team.
Throughout the process the victim is often unwittingly handing over details regarding
their bank account.
Police warning over phone bank scams
4 June 2015
One common element is that the caller is advised of a 'secure' safe deposit account that has been created specifically for them to transfer their money into an account which is safe from further security risks.
The account ends up being fake and the victim loses their money.
Another diversion is to tell the victim that there is an investigation into staff
at their own local bank -
Police say no bank will ever ask a customer to transfer their savings to another
account or to another bank. The bank will also never ask for account details.
A police
spokesman said: "Those individuals who carry out these types of telephone scams are
often very convincing and it can be hard to tell if the caller is legitimate or not.
"Where there is any doubt, hang up the phone and if possible contact your bank either
in person or via a new phone connection, be this a mobile phone or a friend, family
or neighbours landline."
If anyone has any information about an incident of telephone
fraud, or believes that they may have been a victim, they are encouraged to contact
Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://www.crimestoppers-