Farmers and rural businesses were warned today to be alert for any potential telephone calls requesting them to donate money to schemes allegedly "backed" by North Wales Police promoting safety for schoolchildren in the region.
Staff at the Farmers' Union of Wales Denbigh and Flint county office were told about one member who was contacted yesterday but when the caller refused to provide a name or telephone number he sensibly refused to donate any money.
Some £600,000 has been conned out of farmers in north-west England and Yorkshire recently in another apparent "scam" relating to telephone calls from companies stating the farmer’s bank details need verification and they need to contact their bank to do so.
"If the unsuspecting recipient of the call proceeds to contact their bank immediately afterwards, the 'scammers' are still on the line pretending to be their bank and are able to garner the bank details they require to siphon money from their accounts," said FUW Denbigh and Flint county executive officer Rhys Roberts.
The fraudster holds the line open to intercept the call, and then asks the victim to provide their internet log-in details, customer numbers, passwords or card reader codes to transfer the money into a different account. In reality, the fraudsters transfer the money into their own account.
"An FUW member in Denbighshire received a similar call this week but sensibly ignored it,” said Mr Roberts. “Anyone receiving these types of calls should simply ignore them and should not contact their bank to verify anything related to their account.
"Banks will always write to discuss their customers' business. If you are targeted, call the police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."
