FIRST: A FRAUD TELEPHONE CALL TO BE AWARE OF:
On 17th June a resident received a call from someone called 'David', who said he was from the fraud department at their bank. He explained that they believed fraudulent Direct Debits had been set up on their account to withdraw money. One was for a dentist, the other for an Insurance company.
‘David’ then started to ask for all sorts of personal information and the resident became suspicious. To prove the call was genuine, he said he would call back and the number would show on her phone and she could check it against the security number on her debit card.
He did this and the number did correspond to the debit card.
The resident was still suspicious and refused to give the personal information, so ‘David’ said he would send a ‘code’ to use with their online banking, so that they could book an appointment at the bank.
The resident agreed to do this. ‘David’ sent a ‘code’ which was supposedly used to book an appointment, but it did not apparently work, so he sent another, which also did not appear to work. A third was sent and as the resident became more and more suspicious, they clicked into the message shown on screen and it explained that these were authorisation codes to make payments from the account.
At that point, the resident realised they had been scammed and confronted ‘David’, who immediately hung up.
The resident then phoned the bank directly and explained what had happened.
The bank explained that there were no fraudulent Direct debits set up, but there were two payments authorised to be sent from their account, to a prisoner in a London prison !
The payments were stopped and an investigation is under way.
I have included a lot of information to explain how detailed these frauds are and how much work has gone into setting them up – even down to sending a fake phone number to appear on the recipients call screen, to convince them it is genuine.
SO – with this much work put in to set these scams up – this will not be an isolated call, but one of hundreds, working from a script. The call will more than likely come from a call centre, not the prison – even though the payment is made to a prison. If you get a call like this – you will be aware instantly that it is a scam – STOP – BREATHE – THINK – PUT THE PHONE DOWN
Call your bank from a number you have, not one they give you, to make sure everything is in order.
CRIME
I have attached reference numbers to each crime report. If you live in the vicinity of any of the crimes mentioned and have CCTV or a video doorbell, can you please check the footage. If you have any that might be of interest to the police, can you please make contact with us, quoting reference number given.
I have added a new email address below. The first email address is directly to your local Neighbourhood Team. The second is to our investigation team. Please use it to send any intelligence / video doorbell / CCTV footage you may have, which is relevant to any of the crimes lists below - quoting the reference number.
Alternatively you can call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or email -
www.crimestoppers-uk.orgMAIDENHEAD CENTRAL:
maidenheadcentralgeographical@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukSR.windsor&
maidenhead@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk.
20/6 Sunday 11.30 p.m. Wellington Road. Someone came onto the resident’s drive. Their dog barked and they ran away. Ref. No: 43210271607
RIVERSIDE & BELMONT:
NO CRIME TO REPORT
MAIDENHEAD WEST
maidenheadwestgeographical@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukSR.windsor&
maidenhead@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukBISHAM, COOKHAM, HURLEY, THE WALTHAMS, LITTLEWICK GREEN & KNOWL HILL:
NO CRIME TO REPORT
PINKNEYS GREEN & FURZE PLATT:
NO CRIME TO REPORT
MAIDENHEAD SOUTH
maidenheadsouthgeographical@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukSR.windsor&
maidenhead@thamesvalley.pnn.police.ukBOYN HILL, COX GREEN & WOODLANDS PARK
19/6 Saturday 3 p.m. / 5 p.m. Lillibrooke Crescent. Outside waste water pipe pulled from wall – twice and dumped on the grass. Ref. No: 43210270014
21/6 Monday 2 a.m. / 8 a.m. Stamford Road. Car rear car window smashed and bag stolen. Ref. No: 43210272017
21/6 Monday 1 a.m. / 7.35 a.m. Junction of Clare Road & Lower Boyndon Road. Car driver’s window smashed – purse stolen from side pocket. Ref. No: 43210272027
OLDFIELD, BRAY & HOLYPORT:
NO CRIME TO REPORT
Please consider using our online reporting system but please note this reporting tool is not for use where a crime happening right now, the suspect is still at the scene, or anyone seriously injured or in immediate danger.
