Surrey Police – scam alert

Please be aware of the below which has happened in Reigate & Banstead.

The problem is thus – the householder recieves a phone call. The caller purports to be from their bank – knows their name address and who they bank with. The try all sorts to obtain a PIN for the cards stating they are replacing old cards with new ones and other excuses. They then organise for a courier to collect the old cards and have the cards and PIN to withdraw money. Previously the courier has also been quite insistent and forceful and has managed to convince a neighbour to walk around the property with them (which makes them appear legitimate)

We wish to give the following advice:

• Banks will not ‘cold call’ you
• They will not ask for your PIN
• If they do ask for any personal information terminate the call immediately and telephone your bank on numbers you have for them to confirm if it is a genuine call

If you have mistakenly given out information don’t panic – contact your bank immediately and discuss what information you have divulged / cancel your cards. Contact police immediately afterwards on ’101′ and report the incident.

If a ‘courier’ is supposed to be on their way:

• Dial ’999′
• Do not open your door to anyone who knocks and that you suspect to be involved in suspicious activity

Surrey Police takes these matters very seriously and general crime prevention advice is available on the surrey police website

Do not open your door to unknown / unexpected callers without putting the chain on and asking for Identification – if you doubt the ID, call the company directly. The caller should have their contact number.

Remember – STOP CHAIN CHECK

If you do not have a chain on your door, they are easily fitted

• assess callers by looking through windows and if you need to speak to them, open upper windows or casement windows that cannot be used to gain access to your house
• speak to your telephone provider about ways to remove your telephone number from general circulation – caller preference service or ex directory for example

Also ask them about caller display – Fraudsters will withhold their numbers. Be wary of these calls even from Police and obtain officers FIN (force identifier number) and station and call back to the police on their switchboard number or via 101 with those details.

If you know a neighbour who may be prey to this kind of trick, speak to them about this warning and offer assistance if they’re not sure.

To speak to your local policing team (the ‘SNT’) dial 101 and tell the operator where you live.