Fraudsters con men out of almost £40,000 in telephone scams

POLICE have issued a warning about fraudsters after two men lost a total of close to £40,000 in separate telephone scams.

The incidents occurred in counties Antrim and Tyrone.

In both cases the victims were tricked into giving criminals remote access to their devices.

Chief Superintendent Simon Walls urged caution, saying people were still losing significant amounts of money through online and telephone scams.

In the first case the victim, from Belfast, received a voicemail last Wednesday asking him to get in touch with his internet provider.

When he called back the following day, he was told there were issues with his broadband and he needed to download a programme so the matter could be resolved.

The man then downloaded the software, which gave fraudsters access to his computer.

He was also told he would be compensated for the problem and was asked to log onto his on-

Warning: Chief Supt Simon Walls

line banking, which he did. Because the scammer had access to the man’s computer, they were able to access his bank account and take £19,800.

Chief Superintendent Walls said: “This has been an awful ordeal for this man, who believed he was communicating with a legitimate representative from his internet provider but was swindled out of thousands of pounds.”

In the second incident, reported on Monday, the victim, from the Omagh area, received a call from a person claiming to be from telecoms provider who told him he had issues with his internet.

He was told that to resolve the problems, he would have to install an app on his mobile device, which the did.

This enabled the scammer to take control of the man’s phone, gain access to his bank account and take more than £19,700.

“While this may have sounded like a completely legitimate call, it illustrates how convincing scammers can be,” Chief Superintendent Walls said.

“I want to take this opportunity to appeal to members of the public to always err on the side of caution with any text, call, email or letter asking for payment or personal details in order to release money, refund fees, pay lottery wins or supply a holiday, giveaway or service.

“Tricksters know all the scams and will often communicate with victims in a convincing manner.”

Mr Walls also urged anyone suspicious about a call to hang up and phone the organisation to check their authenticity.

“Never be pressured into a transaction over the phone,” he stressed.