Take Five to Stop Fraud

Cheshire Constabulary is supporting the finance industry’s Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign.

During Take Five To Stop Fraud Week (22-26 January 2018), people from across the country – from bank call centre staff to MPs – will be taking five minutes out of their week to tell five other people about the Take Five campaign. The five people they talk to could be colleagues, customers, friends or relatives – financial fraudsters target everyone.

The aim is for people to understand one simple thing. By using the memorable phrase ‘My money? My info? I don’t think so.’ people can confidently and quickly shut down unsolicited approaches if they have any doubts about their legitimacy.

Detective Inspector Alastair Hinze of the Force’s economic crime unit explains: “The Take Five campaign concentrates on educating people on the three most prevalent ways that they could be being caught out at the moment.

“The most common scams just now are ‘push payments’ where people are being duped into making authorised payments to criminals, clicking on links in seemingly official emails and texts which then gives criminals access to private and personal information, and giving away personal details over the phone.

“Our advice is if anyone is at all unsure, they shouldn’t give out their details, click on a link or give someone their money, or access to it.”

Other current, common, scams include:

• People pretending to be builders or lawyers asking for money to be transferred to them as part of building work or property sales
• People impersonating organisations like the Inland Revenue asking for personal details so they can refund money
• People may get texts or emails that look like they are from companies like PayPal saying their account has been suspended and providing a link so the account can be re-activated.
• Being asked by bogus Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) or the courts to settle ‘outstanding balances’ by purchasing iTunes vouchers and calling back the hoax caller with the serial numbers.

The Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign is led by Financial Fraud Action UK and the UK Government, backed by the banking industry.

For more information on the campaign visit www.takefive-stopfraud.org.uk

Anyone who believes they have been contacted fraudulently or have been a victim of fraud should call Cheshire Police on 101 and Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.