Action Fraud, the body that gathers details of frauds and scams, is itself being impersonated by fraudsters who are setting up victims of fraud for further scams. One letter which has been sent to a victim’s home displays old Action Fraud branding and uses copied text from the Action Fraud website to appear legitimate.
One fictitious part of the letter says “We collect information from Banks, Western Union money transfer, Momey Gram, Ukash and many more agencies. We make calls to the people who have transferred money to a different country and check with them, whether was it a genuine transaction or not. And if we find it as suspicious transaction, then we take it further. We have established tie ups with the Government of other countries like India, Spain and Nigeria. We have appointed specialized team in these countries to recover money that you have lost.”
According to the authorities, it appears the fraudsters are sending this information to people randomly so that they can call them up at a later date and claim they can recover money they have lost in a previous fraud. This type of scam is called fraud recovery fraud.
The genuine Action Fraud is the UK’s national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre where consumers can report if they have been scammed or defrauded. We are not responsible for investigating crime or obtaining refunds for victims. If you receive a call that is suspicious and you want to verify the identity of a caller claiming to be from Action Fraud you can call 0300 123 2040 or email [email protected].
As the authorities point out, some fraudsters who call victims on landlines don’t hang up the phone – and so keep the line open. So when you try to make another call you are connected straight back to the fraudster. This is a trick used in the courier scam. To avoid falling victim call from another phone such as your mobile or wait some five minutes before using your landline again – allowing it to drop off.
