Scammers fail to fool Littlehampton residents

It comes after a spate of calls in Littlehampton on Thursday (April 17) where seven residents were contacted by scammers but none handed over any details or money.

In all of the cases the residents became suspicious and called police immediately.

There had been a recent rise in this crime across the force area, and elsewhere in the country, although the trend has slackened recently.

But this goes to show that more and more residents are not being fooled.

The fraudsters call the intended victim claiming to be from either the police or a bank.

They tell them that their card details have been fraudulently used and that they need to act urgently to protect themselves. They suggest that they hang up and ring the bank or police back to ensure that the call is genuine.

Do not be fooled – they stay on the line and pretend to be the police or the bank. They then tell the intended victim to key in or read out their PIN.

They will then send a taxi or courier, who may know nothing about the crime, to collect the bank card. With this and the PIN they will then have full access to spend your money.

Detective Inspector Jim McKnight said; “Under no circumstances would the police or your bank request your pin number over the telephone or arrange collection of your bank cards from your home address in this manner.

“It is good that many people are already listening our advice and we urge anyone hearing about this scam to pass the message on to any friends and relatives who may not be aware of this particular type of targeted fraud, to prevent any vulnerable friends or family members from becoming victims.

“If you receive a call like this please do not use the phone you have just been called on to contact the police or your bank. If possible use another phone to contact the police to report it, or to contact a friend to relative to alert them.

“If you have any information, whether you have received similar calls or know someone who has been a victim of this crime, contact Sussex Police via 101 or email [email protected] quoting Operation Edisto. You can also call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555. 111.”