Two More Telephone Scams

The OFT has been made aware of fraudsters claiming to be from Barclaycard telephoning residents. They say that you are due a PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) refund before going on to try to obtain your credit card details. The fraudsters are very convincing and will use various scare tactics to get your attention; for example, they may claim that the refund has to be done today and that you will not get a further chance.

Barclaycard has issued information and advice on scams at https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/customer/protecting-you-from-fraud.

The OFT has also been made aware of fraudsters purporting to be from Manx Telecom telephoning residents. They say that your account has been hacked and that they are offering £99 in compensation before going on to try to get you to divulge financial details.

Please warn your family, friends and neighbours about these scams.

John Peet, Chief Inspector of Trading Standards, says:

“I can only reiterate our previous advice and that is not to engage with these fraudsters. Just put the phone down on them. They are trying to obtain personal and/or financial details from you which will enable them to carry out further fraudulent activities.”

Further information and advice on ‘Scams’ in general can be found under the ‘Consumer Advice’ section on the OFT’s website https://www.gov.im/oft or by calling the Office on 686500.

Action Fraud’s website http://www.actionfraud.police.uk is also an excellent source of information and advice about the many different types of scams and how to avoid them.