Off-duty police officer steps in to prevent his elderly neighbour getting conned by fraudsters

Police Official Helps The Neighbouring Elderly Victim, Averts A Fraud

Police urged people to inform all their elderly relatives and family to avoid those who impersonate law enforcement officials and ask to travel to their bank to hand over the money. 

Some such criminals portray being a part of an investigation, seeking help from grandparents for a loved one in custody, or other reasons. One should know that government officials can not call elderly citizens and ask for money for any such purpose. 

In one case, an alert officer averted fraud by stopping the elderly neighbour from paying hundreds of pounds for gift cards. The victim was in her 80s and was called by someone impersonating an HMRC official who wanted her to buy gift cards to pay for tax dues and settle the debt from the 1950s by buying a gift card worth £500. 

The neighbour of the woman was an officer in the local police, and a team was set up to seize the assets of all who were involved in the crime. He installed a call blocker to stop such calls on her mobile and even warned others. 

Such groups communicate with people through voicemails, sending automated messages about unpaid dues, and the victim calls back on the number they give to inquire about it. The customers get spoofed calls from the authorised numbers informing them about the unpaid taxes. 

Sometimes, they get text messages or emails requiring them to urgently reply to the authority on the given numbers with links to clear the legal / tax debts. 

How To Protect Yourself?

• Be wary of spoofed numbers used by callers who want you to pay for responding to their calls or messages. Authorised government officials will never ask you to pay to get a tax rebate or discuss your tax bills, PIN, or passwords. 

• If you get any such call, do not keep it a secret and inform your family and friends. Discuss the calls to an expert or an authorised person.

• If you suspect the crime is in progress, have recently visited your bank, or handed over your details to the con artists, call the police and report it.

• Call the bank to block the money transfer to the other account if you suspect fraud. 

• Police officials are aware of the tactics used by such gangs, and if they get any information or report, they will investigate and restrict the callers through various techniques. Government agents will never ask the customer to withdraw cash from their bank account, transfer it to another account, or buy gift cards to pay a legal penalty.