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Police warning concerning a 'you have won a prize' Scam
An elderly couple from Leigh received a series of unsolicited telephone calls during the course of the day from a person advising that they had won a prize of £400,000 on the basis that they had paid their bills on time! The caller added that a film crew would be on hand to record the presentation of the cheque.
A subsequent call is then received by the lucky winners to say that the courier has been stopped by police en route from Preston and advised that he required insurance to transport that sum of money. The target of the scam is then asked to pay £1700 for the insurance in order to get the prize money released.
The caller was described as having an African accent. He called from number 01876 3633897 which when called back was unobtainable. The company name was not given.
The advice from both police and Trading Standards is to view any such unsolicited call with suspicion, to terminate the call without divulging any personal or bank details and to contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06
Computer virus (possible) scam
We have had two reports of householders in Uttlesford over the weekend, being called and asked if they are using a computer or laptop and advising that they may have a computer virus. The callers claimed to be working "with" Microsoft. In both cases, thankfully, the householders gave no information away and ended the call, refusing to answer questions. It is VERY possible that the callers may have been in the vicinity and may possess the ability to intercept Wifi signals. If you get a call like this, disconnect from the Internet immediately and do not speak to the caller. Please can I also ask that you report any such incidents on 0300 333 4444 so that we can find out the scale of this operation. It may also be that this is a hard sales tactic from either an I.S.P. or antivirus supplier, but either way, there is no benefit to speaking to these people, so we'd strongly advise that you do not.
Regards,
Lindsay
Lindsay Baillie
Essex Watch Administrator
Tel: 01376 556 232
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