News & Important Dates
Clever Scam - Beware of people bearing gifts!
The scam below involves thieves soliciting credit card details in a very polite and plausible manner:
A courier company calls to find out if you are home as they have a delivery that requires a signature. They then go on to give times of delivery arrival. A uniformed delivery person arrives with an unexpected gift which includes alcohol. Delivery personnel have no knowledge of the sender as they ‘just deliver it’ explaining that a card will follow in the post.
Because the gift contains alcohol, there will be a small delivery / verification charge, providing proof that it has been delivered to an adult and not just left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or taken by anyone, especially a minor.
The delivery company require payment to be by credit or debit card only, so that everything is accounted for and keeps a legal record of the transaction. The credit or debit card is then swiped on a mobile card machine, PIN number entered and receipt printed.
The "mobile credit card machine" now has all the information necessary to clone a card including the PIN number.
The Police are aware of this scam
Be wary of accepting any surprise gift or package which you neither expect nor ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package.
Above all, the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to hear more from us, then please sign up to our mailing list.
If you have any queries relating to this article or if this article has made you question something within your own circumstances - please do not hesitate to contact us.