Courier fraud occurs when a criminal contacts you by phone and convinces you that you are required to hand over money or your debit or credit card for a legitimate reason to someone who will pick this up.
You’re contacted by phone from someone claiming to be a police officer or someone from your bank. The caller might be able to confirm some easily obtainable information about you such as your full name and address.
After gaining your trust, the criminals might claim:
- Their systems have spotted a fraudulent payment on your card or it is due to expire and needs to be replaced.
- There is an investigation that requires you to withdraw money and hand it over to a police officer or courier, which will be returned to you once the investigation is complete.
- You need to purchase expensive items that you’ll be asked to hand to a courier for examination.
- Some money has been removed from your bank account and that corrupt staff at your local bank branch are responsible. You’re advised that someone at the branch has already been arrested but the “police” need you to withdraw your money for evidence.
- That a business, such as a jeweller or currency exchange, is operating fraudulently and they require assistance to help secure evidence.
In these scenarios, the criminals will often tell you not to speak to anyone else about the investigation and promise you will get your money back. They may ask you to lie to your bank or bypass security measures – it is essential that you follow any warnings from your bank and never lie to your bank.
They may offer to send a courier to collect your money, or bank card and PIN. They ask you to write down your PIN and place it in a separate envelope to that of your card.
