A number of older people have lost significant sums of money after falling victim to scams.
And police are reminding people to be extra vigilant in light of these recent incidents.
An older person from Dungannon fell victim to an, ‘International Online Postcode Lottery,’ scam whereby they were declared the lucky winner of £1.3 million. The victim was asked to send a small percentage of this to the scammers so that they could receive their winnings. On a number of occasions since November 2019, £38,000 was sent to the scammers.
In another case, an older person from Belfast has fallen victim to a Bitcoin scam. They believed the scammers were part of a Recovery Agency Scheme, where the company transfers a small sum of money into their account and the person then transfers a larger sum out. A total of £60,000 has been lost as a result of this.
Police are reminding people to be vigilant.
“Never disclose your personal or banking details to anyone over the phone or on e-mail, no matter how convincing they sound to you. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. For further advice and information, visit www.nidirect.gov.uk/scamwiseni or the ScamwiseNI Facebook page,” added a PSNI spokesperson.
