Earlier today, a village resident received a telephone call from a withheld number. It was a male stating that he was Detective Sergeant Thomas from Southampton Police. They had allegedly arrested and were holding a woman in Southampton with the same name as our resident, giving the same address. The woman, who was also claiming to be a niece of the resident, added some fragmented details of the resident’s living situation. The Sergeant gave his badge number of: 4416BA and a crime reference number. Our resident was then instructed to telephone her bank, using the number on the back of her bank card. As it would happen, our resident had already done some online banking that morning and knew that her affairs were in order. The Sergeant insisted that it was important this was done, that he would hang up, ending the telephone call and call back in 15 minutes. He also made a comment that the person they arrested was male. When it was pointed out to him that he initially said they had arrested a female, he hung up and did not call back.
Our resident then contacted Southampton Police giving them the details of what had happened. Sadly, not an uncommon occurrence. Somehow, the scammers keep the line open for when you call your bank. They then overhear you confirming your bank details and passwords to your bank – giving them easier access to steal from your account. The advice given by Southampton Police was to report the incident to Action Fraud.
Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime where you should report fraud if you have been scammed, defrauded or experienced cyber crime in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. You can report as a Guest but if you register, you can:
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