Nationwide has issued a stark warning to all banking customers in emails sent out earlier this week.
Members of the world’s largest building society are regularly sent newsletters, and part of Nationwide’s latest update is urging people to be vigilant amid a wave of “police scams”.
Part of the alert reads: “If you get a call from someone claiming to be the police, it can be hard to say no and refuse their requests. But some criminals are impersonating the police and using people’s trust to steal their money.”
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Scammers, Nationwide has said, often pretend your local branch is handing out fake or counterfeit notes, telling people they can “help them put a stop to this by withdrawing some cash at the branch and handing it over to an ‘undercover officer’ for fingerprint analysis.”
They then arrange for someone to collect your money, to then never be seen again. Other scams include sending people to buy expensive items from certain shops and asking them to hand them over to “officers”, and asking banking customers to transfer money to “safe accounts”.
Nationwide has issued some questions you should ask yourself in order to keep you and your money safe:
- How do I know they are who they say they are? (A real police officer can show you their ID and tell you which force they are with)
- Is this a real investigation? (It’s very unlikely the police would call you in person for help, and if it was a real investigation, there would be a crime number)
- Why am I being asked to withdraw or spend my own money? (The police could buy goods or take out money themselves)
- Have I ever been asked to do something like this before? (Neither the police nor any other legitimate organisation would ever ask you for your card or PIN or to take out money or buy items on their behalf.)
- Why am I being told not to tell anyone about this? (There should never be a reason you could not talk something like this through with those you trust).
You can find out more on how to keep yourself safe and how to report anything suspicious here
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