Thrive Homes - News

Cold Calling - Bogus Callers by Telephone

Hertfordshire Police is issuing a warning to all residents - especially the elderly - to ensure they never give their bank or personal details to people who cold call them.

Police have been investigating a number of incidents in the last month, including five incidents in Hertfordshire on 12th January 2010, where vulnerable people are being called on the telephone by someone claiming to be a police officer investigating a fraud on their account - the telephone number is withheld. The victim is asked to provide bank details, including pin numbers. On some occasions the offender, posing as a police officer, has visited the home address and the elderly victim has handed over bank statements and credit/debit cards.

These criminals seem to be preying on the elderly people and police are very keen to warn people that these callers are not legitimate.

Hertfordshire Police has issued the following guidelines to residents to prevent them from becoming a victim of crime:

• A police officer would never ask for your bank details and would not visit your address to take bank cards or statements.
• If you receive a similar call do not give any personal information, including your bank details.
• If you have received a suspicious call of this nature, contact police immediately.
• The police would rather you report it and the activity turns out to be innocent than not reporting it at all
• If you have any information about those committing crimes you can also ring Hertfordshire Police on 0845 33 00 222 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to give information anonymously.

For advice from Hertforshire Police on dealing with bogus callers click here.