Recent reports of scam callers

Staffordshire Police have received two reports of a scam caller targeting vulnerable and elderly people in two different towns in South Staffordshire recently, where a male claims he is a PC from MET Police, saying he has arrested an offender that has the victims bank card, then convincing the victim to draw out large sums of money and disclose their address so the scammer can collect it. The male has used the name of Michael Wood in the reports we have received. 

In the reports the offender asks the victim to dial 999 but stay on the line to verify his identity, where he provides a different name and falsely verifies his identity as a Police Constable.

Police Officers will NOT ask you to withdraw any money for them to collect, so if a caller is asking for this, it will not be a legitimate Police Constable. you are advised to immediately hang up the phone and not engage with them. 

If you receive unwanted calls from withheld numbers and are concerned it may be scammers trying to contact you, you can contact your service provider to make them aware and discuss the possibility of them installing a call blocker on your phone line. 

Please make sure any elderly or vulnerable relatives are checked in on and made aware of this increasing Fraud trend, and if they are seen to be engaging in phone calls more often than usual, please make sure they are not falling victim to phone scams. 

For further information on where to report potential scam callers, please visit the Ofcom website, link provided below.

How to report scam texts and mobile calls to 7726 - Ofcom

See the Age UK website for general advise on scam callers etc. Link pasted below:

Phone scams – dealing with cold and nuisance calls | Age UK 

As always, stay safe out there and look out for each other!