Bank calls cops over fears for pensioner

Man charged after alert

Staff at a Dunblane bank raised the alarm after becoming suspicious about a man trying to cash a cheque in relation to work at a female pensioner’s house.

A 66-year-old man was charged in connection with the incident, which happened at the town’s Bank of Scotland branch.

In Fife six men aged between 16 and 59 were also arrested after cashiers at bank branches in Leven and Cupar flagged up suspicious activity where an elderly woman was seeking to withdraw money for work at her home.

These incidents happened on May 30 and 31 and saw cheques and bank withdrawals worth £14,000 stopped from being processed.

Police put this down to the fraud prevention scheme which has been in place throughout the country since the start of March and allows bank staff to contact police if they suspect a customer is being scammed.

Detective Inspector Gordon Burns said: “In both cases the first we were aware of suspicious activity was when bank staff called police to invoke the protocol.

“Our service advisors are trained to immediately flag up such calls so that officers can assess and attend straight away to help vulnerable customers and take an action as required.”

He added: “Inquiries are continuing in both these cases and we will continue to work closely with all our banking partners and trading standards to tackle doorstep crime and fraud.

“Rogue traders and cold callers are unscrupulous and will take any opportunity to relieve people of their money for substandard work without adhering to required conditions or indeed for no work at all.

“Anyone unsure about an unexpected caller at their door should politely decline

We will work closely with all our banking partners and trading standards to tackle doorstep crime