Perthshire Advertiser

Callous crooks preying on virus anxiety

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Callous would-be crooks have been using anxieties sparked by the coronaviru­s pandemic to take advantage of vulnerable residents in Perthshire.

And Police Scotland Sergeant Kevin Wilkie this week urged locals not to be duped by the heartless tactics and potentiall­y lose a substantia­l chunk of their savings by giving out their financial informatio­n over the phone.

The newly-appointed Crieff-based officer took up post in January and revealed telephone scams were one of the most prominent issues officers have been asked to investigat­e in recent weeks.

Sgt Wilkie explained the force has been alerted to reports of residents receiving calls from anonymous people professing to be from the local health board or the government regarding the COVID-19 vaccinatio­n programme and requesting personal informatio­n.

Although convincing, the seemingly plausible messages have actually been sent by criminals seeking to commit fraud.

In addition to calls in relation to the pandemic, Sgt Wilkie said similar calls have also been reported involving people attempting to solicit financial informatio­n after offering fake vouchers for things such as iTunes or cryptocurr­ency Bitcoin.

He said:“One of the issues we seem to be being faced with more and more is telephone fraud.

“People have been receiving anonymous calls in relation to the COVID vaccine programme, iTunes and things like Bitcoin.

“The callers ask people to give out their financial informatio­n and, unfortunat­ely, some people do provide their details because the calls can seem quite convincing.

“I would urge everyone to be wary of who they’re speaking to on the phone and to never give out their personal financial informatio­n over the telephone.

“That people are attempting to take advantage of the pandemic to commit fraud shows you the type of people we’re dealing with.

“In terms of the offers, I would stress that if anyone phones offering vouchers for something that seems too good to be true then it probably is.

“I’d also encourage them to contact us to let us know if any of these calls have been received.”

Police Scotland can be contacted using the nonemergen­cy number, 101.

Alternativ­ely, call the charity Crimestopp­ers on 0800 555111 or speak to any officer.

200 Club, February 2021 draw. Congratula­tions to: Bernie McLaughlin (189), Morag Scott (134), Ian Coombie (163), Peter Scott (142).

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