Two men have appeared at court today (April 19) charged with fraud by false representation following fraudulent calls made to people in Cumbria pretending to be police officers.
Muhammad Aziz, 21, of Palmers Road, London and Abzol Miah, 25, of Albany Road, Enfield were charged with fraud by false representation.
Both are to appear at Preston Crown Court on 21 May.
Officers would like to take this opportunity to remind the public to be vigilant to scam calls.
These scams can differ call to call but can involve fraudsters claiming to be police officers or your bank, requesting bank details, money to be sent electronically, cash to be withdrawn at the bank for collection or expensive items to be bought for collection at a later time.
Police and other agencies would never request this.
If you have any concern that the person on the phone may be a fraudster, put the phone down and call the police or your bank from a different phone on 101 for advice and guidance.
If you receive a call you’re not expecting, you should be suspicious. The vital things to remember are that your bank, other agencies and the police would:
• Never ask you for your bank account details or PIN number over the phone.
• Never ask you to withdraw money and send it to them via a courier, taxi, bank transfer or by any other means. The suspect might refer to a safe account, and that the money will be moved there.
• Never ask you to send your bank cards or any other personal property to them via courier, taxi or by any other means.
• If you have any doubts about the identity of the person that you are speaking with, put the phone down and attend the bank or police station in person, wherever possible, to discuss the call you have received, or call a trusted number for the bank or police using a different telephone than the one that you have been contacted on.
If you think you have been the victim of a fraud you can report this to police on 101 and to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 – or by visiting their website at www.actionfraud.police.uk