Warning as people across Falkirk district victim of scams

Councillor Laura Murtagh, spokesperson for Public Protection said: “These examples of individuals being conned and scammed are a timely reminder of just how low some people will go to deceive people.

“The main advice we can give is to think carefully before you commit to anything; ask around or go online and search for advice from trusted agencies; if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

Here are just a few of the scams perpetrated locally during the COVID-19 lock down from Police Scotland and Falkirk Council’s Corporate Fraud team:Facebook sale, Bonnybridge: A man on Facebook was searching for items for sale when a pop-up notification appeared offering a specific piece of sports equipment. After some research this item appeared for sale on a few other sites which offered the resident some assurance that all was in order. The sale was completed – but no goods were received.

Messenger scam, Grangemouth: A woman received a message through ‘Facebook Messenger’ from someone she believed to be her Facebook friend. The message was asking for help as the ‘friend’ was having some technical issues with her ‘Paypal’ facility and wanted to use the Grangemouth lady’s Paypal account. After the funds had been transferred, it transpired the victim’s ‘Facebook’ profile had been hacked. Paypal is now looking to recover their losses from the woman as she assisted – albeit unwittingly – the fraudster.

Investment scam, Grangemouth: Another Grangemouth resident received a phone call on her home landline from someone who said they were calling from a company who were hoping to purchase shares. Several days later a further call was received and the lady agreed to sell some shares. This deal was subject to the lady purchasing a very expensive ‘insurance bond’ which would safeguard the sale of the shares. The woman was provided with bank details of where she was to send the money and did so via bank transfer as requested. She was scammed out of a significant amount of money due to a fictitious ‘insurance bond’ story.

Safe account fraud, Denny: A man received a telephone call on his mobile phone which showed the caller as being his normal bank. The scammer asked the Denny man for some personal details for security purposes. He was asked if he had purchased an item within another part of the UK to which he replied that he had not. The caller then said they had blocked the transaction and that, given he had been subject to fraud, would open a new “safe account” and block his current account. The man was then asked to transfer over a sum of money to the “new account” which he did. A short time later the man found the monetary transfer had left his account but there was no trace of the ‘new account’. He contacted his bank who confirmed that no such call or contact had been made to him by them the previous day.

Gift card scam, Larbert: A man applied for a personal loan online. Several days later he received an e-mail from what he thought was the loan company telling him the application was successful – but not for the full amount he had applied for. After some discussion between both parties the original request was agreed, however he had to pay some money “up front”. He was advised to attend a local supermarket and purchase Amazon Gift card vouchers for a specific amount. On purchase of vouchers, the fraudster is thereafter given the code on the rear of the card, which effectively gives the scammer control of the monetary value. The scammer does not require physical possession of the card.

If you think you have been a victim of fraud contact Police Scotland on 101.

Any scams or overpricing can reported to Trading Standards via Advice Direct Scotland on advice.scot or by calling 0808 800 9060.

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