Farmers are being urged to be cautious to a new twist on an old scam which has seen the farming community lose hundreds of thousands of pounds over the past two years.
Farm businesses are being warned to remain extra vigilant to the increased risk of fraud as the Single Payments Scheme (SPS) start to arrive from Monday 1st December.
The fraudsters are aware of the timing of the SPS as a lot of information as to who receives the payments is publically available, including the amount paid. From this criminals are able to target specific individuals.
NFU said members should look out for fraudsters calling and claiming to represent their bank or the police.
Normally, the criminals will claim that fraud has been detected on the farmer’s business or personal account and that immediate action is required to remedy the situation.
The victim is then convinced to hand over bank account details in order to transfer funds into a ‘safe account’ which is actually controlled by the fraudster. Once the money is transferred, it is often very difficult to recover as funds are then quickly moved into other account.
