Highland Council Trading standards are urging residents to be vigilant to prevent them falling victim to a new telephone scam.
Fraudsters are pretending to be calling from the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), a free opt out register allowing customers to prevent receiving unsolicited calls.
Recent reports have indicated a variety of tactics being used by the scammers including asking existing customers to confirm their TPS subscription, asking consumers to confirm bank account or credit or debit card details and inform them it’s a ‘one-off ‘payment to set up their registration, as well as offer them an ‘enhanced’ subscription where for a fee consumers can also ‘block’ unwanted international telephone calls as well.
Trading standards are urging consumers to be vigilant and be prepared if they receive a call from someone purporting to be from the Telephone Preference Service or similar organisations offering a call blocking service.
David MacKenzie, Trading Standards Manager said: “We are concerned that this type of scam may catch out vulnerable consumers who are taken in by the scam caller and end up paying for a service which is provided free by the TPS.
“Consumers may also unwittingly pass on personal details including their bank account details to fraudsters who either run up new debts in the consumers name or empty a victims bank account. We would urge all consumers to be on their guard and if they do fall victim of a fraud to contact their bank immediately.”
Scammers may also commonly ask for personal details such as their date of birth and National Insurance Number. Such information could be used as part of an identity theft scam and so consumers should refuse to give out such information and end the telephone call immediately.
