Residents in Mid Sussex are advised to be extra careful when sharing personal information such as bank account details. There have been a few incidents in the area when individuals claiming to be employees of a local Council or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have asked residents for personal information. The callers suggested that the residents may be entitled to a Council Tax refund or other benefit credit and that the residents’ bank account details are required to make the payment. Residents are reminded that the Council will never ask for bank account details over the telephone and asks all residents to be mindful of these bogus callers.
Here are some tips from Action Fraud:
- Don’t give out any personalinformation (name, address, bank details, email or phone number) to organisations or people before verifying their credentials
- Don’t click on web links in emails that pretend to be from the bank
- Destroy and preferably shred receipts which have your card details on
- Sign up to ‘Verified by Visa’ or MasterCard ‘Secure Code’ for shopping online to add an additional layer of security
- If you receive bills, invoices or receipts for things you haven’t bought or from financial institutions you don’t normally deal with, query the information as identities may have been stolen
Visit www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040 to speak with a specialist fraud advisor.