Police warn local residents to be wary of scammers

The warning was issued on the PSNI Lisburn Facebook page after officers received a number of reports of fraudsters contacting local people, many of them older or vulnerable, attempting to con them out of money.

The post said: “We have received a number of reports recently regarding scam phone calls from people saying they are HMRC, or the bank or some other legitimate agency. It might be asking for money for Customs & Excise, or to ‘fix a computer’ or even threatening people with a criminal record if they don’t comply. There have even been scammers that have offered to send taxis to take elderly people to the bank to withdraw money. How low can you get?

“Now, we know that many people will be switched on enough to know that these phone calls are not genuine, however unfortunately people continue to fall for this kind of scam – in particular older people. Sadly elderly and vulnerable people in our communities have been recent victims and have lost significant amounts of money. This is where we need the help of you as a community to get the message out to your older friends, family and neighbours.”

It continued: “No legitimate company will ever ask for your bank details over the phone and will never ask you for your pin, or entire banking password. This might seem obvious to the internet savvy among us, but to a trusting older person it may not set off the alarm bells.

“Help your older family and friends to help keep themselves safe from the scammer - talk to your them about these scams and find out what banks they use, then get genuine contact numbers for the bank and other agencies and tell them to keep them beside the phone.

“Tell them that if anyone EVER phones regarding anything to do with the transfer of money to HANG UP without giving any details. If they still have concerns that the call might be genuine, they can contact the bank or agency on the official number, NOT one that the person on the phone provides.”