More than £300,000 of potential fraud was prevented in November thanks to a response scheme between banks and the police.
The Banking Protocol trains bank staff to spot when someone is about to fall victim to a scam and try and prevent them from withdrawing cash to give a fraudster, after which they can request an immediate police response to the branch.
In November, the Banking Protocol was activated 23 times in the Hampshire Constabulary area – which includes the Isle of Wight. This stopped a total of £310,725 falling into the hands of fraudsters.
The figure is the highest monthly total of money stopped through the Banking Protocol in the force area this year. Hampshire Constabulary was one of the first forces in the UK to use the scheme in June 2017. Since then, millions of pounds have been saved, including £1.4million in 2018.
Detective Sergeant Sarah Dring, of Hampshire Constabulary’s Volume Fraud Investigation Team, said:
“This is the highest monthly total we have seen in 2019 and I would like to thank bank staff for their vigilance.
“It is very important that bank staff can recognise the signs that someone may be the victim of a scam and call us. Often the victims do not know they are being scammed so these interventions are vital.
“As well as banking staff, we can all do our bit to protect people from fraudsters by being aware of common scams and telling those who may be more vulnerable.
Article continues below this advertisement “Banks, the HMRC, police or any other authority figures will never contact you by telephone and ask you for bank details or ask you to transfer money.
“If someone calls you in this way, it is a scam. Hang up, and use a different phone line to call 101 and report it immediately.”
had a similar incident happen to me ,i had money taken from my account the person thought he was going to get away scott free because of his job ,chartered accountant, but hes going to court , and hes got a few shocks coming to him ,he wont be driving his nice vatara car or have his job for mutch longer and will have to go live with mummy again by the time the courts have finished he will be collecting benefits
Sadly sentencing for fraud is surprisingly ‘minimal’. For fraud up to £20K, it could be as low as a community order or worst, a suspended prison sentence.For many, even a small financial loss can have devastating effects, yet the perpetrator ‘gets away’ with it and the money is unrecoverable….