Fraudsters in PPI cash sting

Chelline Carville told how her mother, who lives in Lurgan Tarry, would maybe have followed through with the PPI sting if she hadn’t intervened.

“My mum got a phone call at lunch time from some foreign girl telling her she had got a cheque for her for £6,800 from a PPI claim,” explained Chelline.

“She said she’d be calling round that afternoon between 3pm and 4pm with it. They told her she had to go to Bellevue filling station and get out two ukash vouchers - one for £200 and one for £179 - to cover the administration fee.”

She continued: “My mum had put in a PPI claim, whether they knew this or not it’s hard to say. I’m sure there’s a lot of people who have made PPI claims.

“They were able to tell her where the nearest two shops with cashpoints were, so they knew her surroundings.

“The woman said she was calling back in 10 minutes after my mother had been to the cash machine to make sure she’d got the money.

“I walked in during the first phone call and after my mum had explained to me what she’d said, I took the second phone call. I told her I thought it was a scam and she got very angry. Then she hung up. I reported it to the police straight away.”

“If I hadn’t been there mum might have done what the woman asked. She was very convincing.”

A second incident of a similar nature was also reported to police. A resident was contacted by a person who identified themselves as J Wilson. The caller told the resident that he had been underpaid by his bank in relation to the sale of a previous house. The caller advised that he would call to his home with a cheque for £2,400 and that he should have a ukash voucher for £100 ready. No one called to the man’s home, however, he was contacted a number of times by phone and asked for the number of the ukash voucher. The man realised this was a scam and did not purchase a ukash voucher.”

Police in E District are advising residents to continue to be cautious when dealing with unsolicited letters, texts, calls, or emails offering loans or to release money, refund fees, pay lottery wins, or give away holidays and prizes.

People are reminded that scammers are inventive and can be very convincing. However, each scam has just one purpose - to tempt you into dropping your guard.