Please be aware that fraudsters are currently targetting victims in the Barbican area and the article below describes methods being used.  Rmember that a bank will never ask for your PIN number and police officers do not act on behalf of financial institutions to collect or deliver cards.  If you believe you have received a genuine call use a different telephone to call your bank using the number on your bank statement.

Bank customers are falling victim to a new and sophisticated type of credit card fraud which has increased threefold since the beginning of the year.

Victims are telephoned by fraudsters and duped into revealing their PIN and then handing over their bank card to a courier in this new form of crime, which has seen more than £750,000 taken from customers since the beginning of the year.

The scam involves a person being called by someone claiming to be from their bank. They are told that their debit or credit card needs collecting as it needs replacing following fraud on their account.

The caller often suggests that the person hangs up and calls the bank back if they want to ensure the call is genuine, but stays on the line, tricking the person into thinking they’re calling their bank. The criminal will then ask the person to key in their PIN number, before sending a courier to collect the card. The victim is told the card is going to the bank to be changed but it is actually delivered to the fraudster to use along with the PIN obtained during the scam.

DCI Paul Bernard, head of the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit, said: “Many of us feel confident that we can spot fraudsters but this type of crime can be sophisticated and could happen to anyone. While we have seen an increase in this type of fraud, we know collectively we can stamp it out. “If you become a victim of this type of crime, you should contact your bank in the first instance. If you have friends or relatives who you feel may be vulnerable to this, please help them to be more aware of the potential risks and what to look out for. Remember, if you are the innocent victim of card fraud you will not suffer any financial loss.”
More than £1.5m has now been lost to this crime, with the same amount £750,000 stolen in the first four months of 2012 that was stolen during the whole of 2011.

The Payments Council found in a survey of account holders that more than three quarters feel confident that they would be able to spot a fraudulent telephone banking call. However, after hearing how the card fraud phone scam works, over half of the 4,000 people surveyed were surprised by how sophisticated it was, one third worried they were more vulnerable than they thought and four fifths felt that anyone could be a potential victim of the fraud.

Mr Bernard said that customers should follow some simple tips to avoid being a victim. These include making sure you can hear the dial tone when you call your bank, and never handing over your card. Your bank or the police will never ring you and tell you that they are coming to your home to pick up your card, so never hand it over to anyone who comes to collect it.

He added that your bank will never ask you to authorise anything by entering your PIN into the telephone. The only times that you should enter your PIN are at a cash machine or when you use a shop’s chip and PIN machine.