Courier Scam:
A Surrey Resident recently received an unsolicited telephone call from a male stating he was from a courier company.The caller explained that the resident was due a delivery and was ringing to confirm the resident would be at home to receive it.
About an hour later a man arrived with basket of flowers and a bottle of wine.The delivery man explained that there was a £3.50 delivery charge and could not accept cash. The resident produced a debit card and the delivery man swiped the card in a mobile card machine and the resident entered their PIN number. The machine produced a receipt for £3.50 so all appeared legitimate.
The following day a total of £4,000 had been withdrawn from the residents account, by means of charges and ATM withdrawals.
Other residents in Surrey have fallen victim to this scam.
Solution: Be wary of accepting surprise gifts at the door and do not use you a credit or debit card for payment.
Please report these or similar instances to us via the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 08454 04 05 06.
Nottingham Knockers:
Ourselves and the Police refer to these types of fraudsters as 'Nottingham Knockers', because that's where the scam originated.
A team are usually bussed into a locality and dropped off to cold call residents, to flog them overpriced dusters, ironing board covers, etc, supposedly because they've been enrolled in some sort of offender rehabilitation scheme.
Their opening line is usually akin to: "Good morning, sir, my name is Tom and although I've been a bit of a bad lad in the past, I'm now trying to straighten myself out. Would you like to buy some of my goods?"
They may apply pressure to easily swayed residents and display signs of aggression to get them to buy their dodgy goods.
Moreover, requests for glasses of water and to use toilet facilities are sometimes used as a pretext for getting into the properties with a view to distraction burglary.
