Scam calls affect Stowmarket Residents

An increase in scam calls or phone 'Phishing' has been reported in the Stowmarket and Suffolk area over the past month. Reports from Stowmarket residents indicate that phone scamming in the area could be becoming more prevalent. One phone scam in particular has hit many people recently. The scam in question involves a rogue caller posing as a computer repair specialist claiming that there is a problem with your computers security system. The caller then requests a sum of money to fix the problem over the internet. This recent surge in scam calls has been affecting many residents around the U.K. including Stowmarket resident James Gardener who received a bogus call last week:

"The caller said he worked for Microsoft and that there is something wrong with my computer, and he asked me to pay a fee of £120 so they could fix it, foolishly I followed."

Julie Bowers from Stowmarket was contacted by a similar phone scam earlier this month. She said. "The voice on the phone sounded so professional and friendly I almost got sucked in. I don't know much about computers but I haven't had mine very long so naturally I got suspicious when the man said there was a problem. I soon sussed it was a scam and put the phone down. I do worry that many others might not be so lucky, especially those without much computer knowledge." Always stay aware when an unknown person is calling you. Rogue callers have access to telephone directories, so it is likely that they can refer to their victims by name giving the impression that they are trustworthy.

Police warn residents not to give out any delicate information especially not financial information such as bank information over the phone, unless they are sure that they trust the recipient. The following websites offer advice and information on dealing with scams.                                                                                                                                      

http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/consumer-protection/campaign11-12/scams                                                                                                                                                                                 

http://www.cifas.org.uk                                                                                                                                             

http://www.banksafeonline.org.uk

http://www.safefromscams.co.uk    

Don't let scammers scam you!