Warning to people across North Yorkshire to be watch out for scammers
Experts say people need to be on their guard over the Christmas period
In the run up to Christmas, UK Finance is warning consumers to be vigilant against criminals looking to trick you into gifting them money.
Intelligence from UK Finance suggests that during the festive period, criminals will lure customers into transferring money and sharing personal information which could put them at risk of losing thousands of pounds. UK Finance estimates that in December, criminals could steal up to £100 million across 200,000 cases of all types of payment fraud, including around 20,000 cases of authorised push payment (APP) fraud.
Ben Donaldson, Managing Director of Economic Crime at UK Finance said:
'Unscrupulous criminals will stop at nothing to commit fraud and that includes exploiting the festive season to target people. Whether selling fictitious goods online, impersonating delivery companies to get you to hand over personal information or offering you loans for festive shopping, criminals will try anything to ruin your holidays and steal your money.
We estimate that up to £100 million could be stolen via payment fraud in December alone, so please don’t give a gift to these callous thieves. Follow the advice of our Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign. Always take a moment to stop and think before parting with your information or money as only criminals will try and rush you. It could save your Christmas.'
"I put on a funny voice and say don't you dare"
We've been speaking to people at a café at AGE UK in Scarborough about how they deal with scam calls.
"I usually tell them if they phone here again they are going to get into trouble or I just talk to them in a very low voice, do not phone here again, I will a lawyer and I will phone the police and the phone goes click or I put a funny voice on and say 'don't you dare'. But they are annoying and it's time they stopped now."
"We get them all the time on the mobile phone, that've got parcels or we owe them money."
If you've been a victim of scams or want to learn more North Yorkshire Police have more information here