Elderly woman foils attempted scam to takeher money

On Tuesday the lady received a telephone call from a female who said she was involved in settling PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) claims that had been improperly sold.

The caller had all the woman’s personal details and informed her that her colleague would be calling that afternoon to present her with a cheque in excess of £2600.

The woman was then told that another man would call and collect from her a UKash voucher to the value of £377 which she was to purchase from a local store.

It was emphasised that the voucher was not to be given to the first caller.

The elderly woman was astute enough to realise that this was a scam but played along stating she had not got £377 and settled on £177.

Later the woman checked with the named store who told her that such vouchers were not being issued to senior citizens because of a Crimestoppers alert on such activity.

Police

Police are warning anyone else who may have received such calls to contact them.

“Please be mindful of any such scam calls and notify police of any details involved,” a spokesperson said. “Please be sure elderly and vulnerable family and neighbours are made aware.

“UKash is a legitimate form of e-money product; other types would include prepaid debit or credit cards. The main use of the UKash vouchers is to trade or make purchases online without the requirement of having a bank account.

“This form of electronic money is increasingly being used by fraudsters when targeting victims in the various forms of ‘Advanced Fee’ scams.

“UKASH for their part have been proactive in improving their counter fraud measures and now operate a 24 hour reporting service for people who want to report voucher fraud.”

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