(20 October 2009 – UK) In the latest case of fraud against London consumers, fraudsters are calling individuals claiming to be bank fraud department officials.Since August, 13 incidents have been reported where a man claiming to be from a fraud department of a bank, normally Barclays, calls victims to advise them their accounts have been subject to fraudulent activity.
The man then arranges for a courier to collect the victims’ bank cards for an analysis and follows the delivery up a short time later with a call requesting the PIN details.
On occasions when the man was refused the information, he proceeded to threaten violence against the victims and did obtain the PIN in a number of cases. In a few cases he was also successful in stealing money from some the victims’ bank accounts.
In each of the fraudulent cases the courier delivered the packages containing the cards to different addresses.
Detective Constable Deveci, from Chingford police, is leading the investigation.
Constable Deveci said that although all the victims are Asian, the police believe the suspects are simply cold-calling people and trying their luck. They can sound convincing and have managed to persuade people to hand over their bankcards and PIN numbers. This scam is being carried out across north and east London.
The police are also appealing for courier companies to be on their guard and report any incidents as the services of genuine companies are being abused by these fraudsters.