Scam victims being asked to buy gold and jewellery

HSBC UK has issued a warning about a new twist in an impersonation scam where people are asked to buy gold and jewellery. Criminals may also pretend to be police officers, claiming that someone’s account has been subject to fraud.

In this new approach, fraudsters claim the bank customer has been chosen to help with an investigation into their bank branch. The scam often includes accusations that branch staff are planning to steal money from the account and replace it with counterfeit cash.

The latest twist involves scammers persuading customers to withdraw large amounts of cash from their branch and buy gold or jewellery. This is handed over to the scammer, pretending it will be kept safe or used as court evidence.

David Callington, HSBC UK’s head of fraud, said: “Scammers are devious criminals who adapt their approach from time to time, trying to stay one step ahead of banks and the police. Over the last couple of months we may have seen the start of a trend where purchasing and physically handing over gold, silver or jewellery has become part of a scam.”

He concluded by saying: “Whereas scammers previously often used cryptocurrency exchanges to ‘cash out’, moves to tighten payments across the industry have led criminals to go down a different route.

“While this not only leads to the customer losing money through the scam, as there is a physical element to it with a meeting to carry out the handover, there’s a potential physical risk to the victim as well. If you receive a call out of the blue about money, it is very likely to be a scam.”

People who are tricked by these scams can lose huge amounts of money, sometimes even hundreds of thousands of pounds, warns the bank.

Here are some things to watch out for:

n You might be told that you’ve been a victim of fraud and shouldn’t trust your bank.

n The scammers might say you’re helping a police investigation.

n They might tell you to buy gold or jewellery to keep safe.

n Real fraud investigations won’t ask you to do this.

n If someone contacts you asking you to buy or give them gold or jewellery, hang up straight away.

n If you think you’ve been tricked by a scam, call the number on the back of your bank card and report it to Action Fraud. Get everything you need to know about where you live with our app or via InYourArea.co.uk