Officers are warning people to beware of a phone scam which has been targeting Islanders over the past few days.

The scam, known as 'vishing', involves a fraudster making a phone call posing as a bank representative (normally from fraud investigations) and persuading victims to reveal financial information or use their card readers to authorise payments online.

 The scam works as follows:

 When the victim receives the call they will be told that someone was attempting (at that moment) to buy an item online using the victims account details and asking for confirmation of the attempted purchase. 

 Once it is established that the victim is not making any purchases, the scammer will tell them that their account has now been frozen and they must contact their bank as soon as possible using the number on the back of the bankcard.

 The victim hangs up and calls the number, but the fraudster has not hung up and he now pretends to be the banks customer services representative, therefor gaining all the victims personal banking details.

 This scam relies on the fact that an alleged fraudulent activity is taking place there and then. The victim is pressurised into making an immediate decision.

James Hughes from the Joint Financial Crime Unit said:

 “Your bank may call you if they recognise unusual activity on your account and they may freeze your account if needed, but they would never ask you to transfer funds to another account or make a decision on the spot’

“Please be on your guard and watch out for any suspicious phone calls. Unless you are completely sure of whom you are speaking to, do not impart any personal information or bank or credit card details over the phone”

“If you are under any doubt whether you are dealing with a scam just take five minutes and Google the details as many of these scams have been tried time and time again across the world.”

The States of Jersey Police would advise anyone who has received phone calls of this nature to inform their bank as soon as possible and then report the incident to the Police on 612612.