ON THE BEAT Perth and Kinross local area commander’s bulletin

Fraud over the phone – or Vishing (a combination of Voice and Phishing) – is when a fraudster calls claiming they’re from your bank or some other trusted organisation.

It is easy for them to convince you too, since they can fake the telephone number on the screen to match your local bank, fraud office or other organisation to make the call appear genuine.

They carry out some research to find out some of your basic bank and personal details.

Remember though, a genuine bank will NEVER ask you for personal or financial details like your PIN number or full banking password (even by tapping it into your phone keypad).

Here are five things to look out for on a scam phone call:

1. The caller doesn’t give you time to think, tries to stop you speaking to a family member or friend or is insistent and makes you feel uncomfortable.

2. The caller asks you to transfer money to a new account or to withdraw money to hand over to them for safe-keeping.

3. They phone to ask for your four-digit card PIN or your online banking password. Even if they ask you to give it to them by tapping into the telephone keypad rather than saying the numbers out loud, this is a scam.

4. They may say that you are a victim of fraud and offer to send a courier to your home to collect your cash, PIN, payment card or cheque book.

5. Inform you not to tell the cashier the reason for transferring/ withdrawing the money as the staff at your bank are under investigation.

Please, take five minutes to stop and think about it. If something feels wrong, then you are right to question it. Be confident, refuse requests for personal or financial information. Ian Scott, chief inspector, local area commander Perth and Kinross