McMillan Highlights Bogus Call Scam

Stuart McMillan MSP (SNP) has today (Friday) urged his constituents to be alert to a new telephone scam.

Mr. McMillan said:

“Bogus calls are a real nuisance with callers, often from overseas, trying to con folk into giving away their bank details or access to their computers. It is very easy for folk unsure about technology, particularly the elderly, to be tricked by these calls.

“This most recent scam is particularly sneaky, playing, as it does, on the suspicion about bogus calls that the fraudsters have built up amongst the population.

“These calls, I have been informed, claim to be from BT or the Telephone Preference Service, offering protection from bogus callers. The sting comes when the recipient of the call agrees that they would like this service and are then asked for their bank details to pay in the region of £50 for the service.

“I want to stress to my constituents that the Telephone Preference Service is free. No-one from the TPS will call you up and ask for money. Anyone doing so is a fraudster and you should simply hang up the phone.

“Signing up for the TPS – which you can do online or by phone - is a good idea. Although, sadly, there is little they can do at the moment about calls from overseas that deliberately flout the law, they do give some defence against bogus calls and telemarketers.”