A woman in her 70s from Lisburn has been scammed out of £2,000 after she was contacted by a caller claiming to be from her telecoms provider.
The woman was told her router had been hacked and access was needed to her laptop where she was persuaded to download two programmes. This enabled the scammers to take her money which, as of this time, hasn’t been recovered.
And in a separate incident, staff at a Lisburn bank managed to prevent a woman being conned out of £10,000.
The woman had been conversing with a man online, and he had asked her to transfer the sum to an account. Fortunately, when she went to her bank in the Lisburn area to make the transfer, staff realised something was up and the scam was thwarted and no money was lost.
In a third incident reported to police, a Tyrone business was scammed out of almost £50,000 in a mandate fraud.
This is where emails have been compromised or spoofed. A number of emails were received, which resulted in three separate payments being made to a scammer – a total of just under £50,000. Police have said that enquiries are ongoing to establish what occurred and to see if the money can be recouped.
Scams are reported daily to the PSNI, often with members of the public losing significant amounts of money.
Chief Superintendent Walls said everyone needs to be vigilant. He also said it’s important for families to have conversations with their loved ones about scams and the need to be aware.
“There is plenty of advice available to ensure you are scam aware. For businesses, we advise checking thoroughly before making any payment. Double check that the accounts to which the payments are being made are the correct accounts and never disclose account details to any unauthorised person or allow anyone access to them via your computer.
“If you are concerned by unsolicited calls, emails or letters then please report it to Action Fraud via their website www.actionfraud.police.uk or by phoning 0300 123 2040, or call police on the non-emergency number 101,” he added.
For further advice and information visit www.nidirect.gov.uk/scamwiseni or the ScamwiseNI Facebook page @scamwiseni.
