Thames Valley Police would like make you aware of a card fraud scam which is occurring across the county with victims appearing in Oxford.
It is a card fraud scam, where the offender rings the victim saying they are calling from Harrods or similar company and are informing the victim that someone has tried to pay for something costing a large amount on their card.
The victim says this has not been authorised and the offender tells the victim to call their bank using the number on the back of the debit/debit card. The offender leaves the line open so the victim is in fact not dialling out at all. The victim believes they are speaking to the bank when they are speaking to another offender claiming to be from the victim’s bank.
They ask various questions to verify the identity of the victim including name, address and DOB, mother’s maiden name and last transactions. An automated voice then asks the victim to manually enter their pin number on the keypad.
Once this has been done the offender claims the transaction has been stopped and the card cancelled. The offender then asks the victim to place the card into an envelope and says a courier will call to collect it. A taxi then arrives at the victims address to collect the card and take it away.

Thames Valley Police recommend that you never disclose your PIN number, login details or passwords in response to unsolicited emails or callers claiming to be from your bank, the card company or the police. A genuine caller would never ask for this information over the phone.

Anyone who needs to reports a fraud should call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or complete the fraud reporting form here