New sc@m targets the elderly - *Vishing*

[slick132]

I was recently made aware of an attempt by fraudsters to obtain my relatives debit card details. MR is over 70 years old.

 

The call came one Saturday night at about 9pm and he used MR's name. The caller identified himself as a detective at Paddington Green police station and said they had apprehended someone on suspicion of debit card fraud.

 

He asked that MR check to see if he still had his debit card in his possession. He confirmed that he did.

 

The caller said he suspected MR's card had been, or was about to be, cloned but he needed to verify this by confirming the card account number.

 

Luckily, MR smelled a rat for various reasons and said his card was for a NatWest a/c which was untrue. The caller said, "Yes, that's the one." and tried to get MR to give the card details so he could avoid his a/c being emptied.

 

When MR asked a few more questions, the caller passed the phone to someone else who continued to try and reassure MR that they were genuine police but they needed to act quickly to avoid MR losing his money.

 

They obviously felt they were not going to get MR to fall for it and said they'd make enquiries and call back. They never did.

 

This topic has been the subject of various reports in the media recently and the sc@m has been labelled VISHING, short for Voice Phishing.

 

The Daily Telegraph reported the matter last Saturday - https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/10269196/Elderly-hit-by-new-telephone-[problem].html&sa=U&ei=W_QoUtSrAYap4gTLioHABw&ved=0CAcQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNG-Rku_cMOvrlnlz8nJkc4QfnvoMw

 

It may be wise to warn elderly relatives that they should speak to someone they know and trust before giving out any details. The press reports that many folk have had money taken and accounts emptied as a result of this tactic.

 

[citizenB]

The Guardian also carried an article on this.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/aug/28/vishing-scams-fraudsters-seven-million-pounds