We are proud to be supporting Take Five to Stop Fraud with their campaign, The Art of Impersonation.
Criminals are experts at impersonating people and organisations we trust, such as the police, your bank, a delivery or utility company, friends and family, communication service provider or a government department such as HMRC. They spend hours researching you for their scams, hoping you’ll let your guard down for just a moment.
What can you do to protect yourself?
If you receive a message from someone asking for your information or money, always remember to Stop, Challenge, Protect. Ask yourself if the request could be a scam? Verify the request directly on a known phone number or in person first. It may feel awkward checking with friends or family but they’ll be grateful that you are helping to protect them and yourself. It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you.
Your bank or the police will never ask you to transfer money to a safe account or contact you to ask for your full PINs, passwords or passcodes.
If you think you may have fallen for a scam, contact your bank immediately and report it to Police Scotland directly by calling 10.
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