New scam warning issued over “fraud team” calls

The Council’s Trading Standards team has been made aware of a spate of convincing scam calls where the caller claims to be from the “fraud team” at the person’s bank.

To date, the scammers are said to have strong Scottish accents and go on to claim that large transactions from some local businesses have been made to the person’s account.

The scammer then claims to transfer the call to the “fraud team” to discuss further protections for the account.

Some of the calls originate from an 0345 number which, along with the Scottish accents, might convince folk that the call is from their own bank. They also claim that they would not ask for security information on the account and that the call is being recorded in an attempt to convince people that it is real.

Scammers will always try to cause concern to hurry the person into making a quick decision to protect their money.

Trading Standards Service Manager, Gary Foubister, said: “Always take a few minutes to consider your actions - never agree to move money to ‘safe’ accounts and never give out your account details. If possible, call your own bank using a different phone to the one you were called on, or visit your bank to discuss it with them.

"If you have lost money to this scam you should be able to reclaim it from the bank. Contact Trading Standards to discuss in strictest confidence on 01856 873535 or Police Scotland on 101.”