Fraud Newsletter - December 2023 edition
Please see below December’s edition of the Surrey and Sussex Police Fraud Newsletter.
"Each month we see many incidents of fraudsters targeting our residents in an attempt to defraud them. We’re working hard to prevent this and support vulnerable victims of fraud or scams. By following our tips and encouraging family, friends and colleagues to do so too, you can reduce the risk of becoming a victim."
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Doyle, Surrey Police & Sussex Police Economic Crime Unit
Courier / Impersonator fraud
With the festive season upon us, residents are being urged to look out for their elderly family, friends and neighbours as reports of courier fraud across Sussex and Surrey continue to rise.
Impersonator/Courier fraud is where a scammer will contact a member of the public usually on the telephone but can also be via email or messaging services such as WhatsApp, typically purporting to be the Police or a member of staff generally within the Fraud department of a local bank.
They advise the victim that they are investigating fraud and to be able to assist the investigations they need to withdraw or transfer funds from their account, and a courier may come to their home address to collect the cash, bank cards and in some cases expensive jewellery or gold bars.
Banks can activate the Banking Protocol if they are suspicious of a transaction that is occurring. This means the police will be called to attend the branch and intervene with the vulnerable customer to ensure they are not a victim of fraud to limit the risk of financial loss.
Police can then also offer scam prevention advice along with tools such as trueCall call blockers to prevent scammers being able to contact the victims via the landline phone.
TOP TIPS to protect yourselves
- Avoid sharing personal information over the phone.
- Never give out your PIN number.
- Always check your phone line has properly disconnected before making another call – try calling a friend first, wait five minutes, or use a different phone.
- Do not transfer or withdraw money on the instruction of an unexpected caller.
- Never give your bank card to a courier or someone you do not know and trust.
This crime type disproportionately targets the elderly and in particular those living alone.
In a recent example an elderly lady from East Sussex received a phone call on her landline number from a woman claiming to be from Scotland Yard. They said that they had arrested 2 people who were using cloned cards and to call the local police. The phone then appeared to disconnect and automatically reconnected to a Police call centre, where someone claiming to be a Police Sergeant, advised her she needed to transfer funds (£4500) into a dummy account and that a courier would arrive shortly to collect her bank cards, which they duly did. Thankfully on this occasion the bank refunded the money however the victim was left shaken, distressed, and confused about the whole situation.
Radio Appearances
Did you catch us on the radio recently? Cyber Protect Officer Daniel Sykes has made appearances on the below stations to talk about online scams and Cyber Security over the festive period.
BBC Surrey (1 hour 42 minutes into broadcast, or 07:42)
James Cannon - Clare Cowan sits in (14/12/2023) - BBC Sounds
Susy Radio
Daniel Sykes – Online Scams | SUSY Radio
Radio Jackie
Restaurant Booking Scam
Be Cautious of Unsolicited Calls: We have become aware of incidents where criminals, posing as staff from external reservation booking app companies are contacting venues advising them their accounts require a security update. They are then requesting username and passwords to access the venues reservation booking account for the “security update” and issuing a “temporary password”. The criminals have then gained access to the venues reservations and all customer contact details.
The criminals are then using this harvested personal data of customers to contact them, posing as restaurant staff, and asking them to secure or confirm reservations. They may request small sums of money to guarantee a table reservation or pay for drinks etc, whereby card information is stolen. Please remind your customers your business does not take payments over the phone. In some cases, the criminals will reference details from the booking such as dietary requirements to gain trust from the victim.
Protect Your Personal Information: As always, it is crucial to never share sensitive information, such as credit card details, PINs, or other financial information over the phone unless you initiated the call to a trusted and verified number such as your bank.
What is Quishing ?
Quishing, also known as QR code phishing, is a phishing technique that involves QR codes to trick potential victims. Like other types of phishing attacks, the purpose is to steal sensitive information, install malware on your device, or make you visit a website.
Criminals place malicious QR codes in places where victims are likely to scan them to achieve their goals. Fake QR codes may have been pasted onto the original QR codes, so QR codes placed on posters, flyers, and fake advertisements at public places might hide a phishing attack. This includes restaurants, bars, car parks, and airports. QR codes can redirect you to false payment portals, malicious links, or host virus-infected documents.
How can you protect yourself?
If you are not sure if the website a QR code takes you to is genuine, search for it in your browser instead.
When inspecting a link make sure you recognise the URL, look for misspelling and/ or switched letters.
QR code scams can trick people into downloading malware - so ensure phone security is up to date.