Courier Fraud Advice
- Published
What is Courier Fraud?
Courier fraud is when a fraudster contacts you by telephone from the privacy of your own home, purporting to be a police officer or bank official. They may suggest there has been some sort of compromise on your bank card or that someone has been arrested in the possession of your card and they need you to assist in an undercover secret police operation.
In order to reassure you that they are genuine, you may be asked to call your bank using the phone number on the back of your card, or to hang up and call 101 or 999 to verify an officer's identity. However, the fraudster will keep the line open at their end, with a second person acting as the switchboard who will claim they have put you through. When the call is made, you are unknowingly connected straight back to them or their friends.
Examples of Courier Fraud:
After some trust has been established, there are a variety of different statements or requests the fraudster may make:
"Some money has been removed from your account. Staff at your local bank branch are responsible" - This instills a fear of mistrust that the staff at your bank are corrupt.
"We need you to withdraw money for evidence against the suspects" - The criminals will suggest the bank is issuing counterfeit currency and they will ask you to withdraw a large sum of your money. We know the criminals will ask individuals to read out dozens of the notes' serial numbers pretending to check if they are counterfeit. However, the reality is they are using this time to confirm you are in fact in possession of the cash, whilst killing time making arrangements to collect the money.
"We will send a courier to collect your bank card" - They might claim a fraudulent payment has been spotted on your card, or that they have arrested someone in possession of a bank card in your name. They will suggest you will need to hand it over in order for them to issue you with a new one.
"A jeweller has been operating fraudulently and we need your help to secure the evidence" - Once you've bought the item, the criminal tells you to hand it to a taxi driver for transfer to the police. The expensive item is, of course, taken instead to the criminal's partner.
Gold and jewellery have always been seen in courier fraud. However, over recent years, the prevalence of this commodity has increased. It is likely due to changes to banking protocols and restrictions on how much cash can be withdrawn.
How To Protect Yourself:
Criminals are experts at impersonating banks, trusted organisations or the police. But your bank or the police will never ring you to tell you someone is coming to your home to pick up money, your card or valuables like jewellery and gold. Never hand these over to anyone who comes to collect it.
They will try to rush and panic you into responding to their requests. It's ok to reject, refuse or ignore these requests, and terminate the phone call.
You should then report the call to Action Fraud, external or 101 in Scotland., external
If you have followed through with the criminals' requests, call 999.
It's also really important to contact your bank so that they can place a fraud marker on your account to protect you from further attempts to defraud you.
If you need to call your bank back to check, wait five minutes; fraudsters may stay on the line after you hang up. It's even better to use a different line altogether to call your bank.
