“We want to remind people to keep on their guard,” says David Marsh, Trading Standards Team Leader for Shetland Islands Council
“as folk here have been contacting us about higher numbers of scam phone calls since the easing of some of the lockdown restrictions.”
Whether it’s supposed to be about Amazon Prime renewals, BT connection problems, or suspicious activity on your account, scam callers are trying to trick us into revealing personal or financial details.
Scammers often use clever and sophisticated tricks to make their calls seem believable – the number displayed on your phone handset may look like a genuine company contact number, the caller may have a Scottish or English accent, and the story they tell may seem very convincing.
But these are all ploys to try to gain your trust and prevent you from questioning what is happening.
- Never reveal personal or financial details to someone who calls you out of the blue.
- Don’t respond to any call in which a recorded message tells you to press a number on your phone to be connected to someone.
- If you think there is any possibility the call might be a genuine warning, put down the phone, make sure your line is clear by phoning someone you know, and then phone the organisation using a number you can trust.
- If the caller was genuine, they won’t mind you making sure – and you could be saving yourself from a big financial loss.
There is some good news about scam emails, however.
If you get a suspicious email, simply forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk before deleting it and the National Cyber Security Centre's automated program will immediately analyse the suspect email and any websites it links to, so that action can be taken to stop the scammers.
In its first two months of operation, the Suspicious Email Reporting Service has received a million reports from the public – resulting in the removal of more than ten thousand links to over a thousand individual malicious websites.
People can report any scam by contacting Trading Standards on 01595 744887 or Police Scotland on 101.
Advice on scams, for consumers and businesses, is always available at www.shetland.gov.uk/tradingstandards, by emailing trading.standards@shetland.gov.uk, or by calling 01595 744887.
Scambusters Shetland packs are available on request – these contain information and advice to help people deal with cold callers (whether at the door, on the phone, or by post or email), and to help you support family, friends or neighbours who may be more susceptible to the high pressure tactics which are often employed. Just contact Trading Standards, and they’ll post one out to you.