A woman in Orleton, Herefordshire, has warned others about a phone scam after she received a call from a man posing as a police officer and quickly realised that something was wrong.
According to a BBC report, Ann Turtle was contacted by a scammer who introduced himself as “Detective Mason” and claimed that a suspect had been arrested in London for cloning her bank card. He gave her a police station name and badge number and asked her to dial 999 to verify his identity.
Turtle, whose son is a police officer, immediately became suspicious. She knew that there was no “police verification department” and also recognised that 999 is meant for emergencies. She refused to follow the caller’s instructions and ended the call.
The scammer was reportedly trying to make the verification appear genuine. If Turtle had dialled 999 as instructed, the fraudster could have kept the phone line open and passed her to another person pretending to be a police official.
After sharing her experience on her village’s Facebook page, Turtle discovered that other residents had also received similar calls. She said she was concerned that people may comply with such demands because they believe they are speaking to an authority figure.
West Mercia Police has warned that genuine police officers will never ask people to make payments, withdraw or transfer money, purchase expensive items or provide bank details.
Police have advised anyone receiving such a call to end it immediately and contact the police or their bank independently using a different phone or a trusted number.
