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PPI fraud scam continues
Despite previous warnings from both residents and officials, it has been revealed that Ukash scams continue as fraudsters try and take advantage of the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) scandal. With residents being cold called by thieves pretending to be from official sources, consumers continue to be conned out of money when they believe they will be receiving a missold PPI repayment.
The latest news has come as Staffordshire based residents revealed that fraudsters were attempting to con them out of Ukash vouchers. Residents are cold called by people claiming that they are from official bodies or claim firms and can recoup thousands of lost pounds for residents. They then say that they need to be paid a small administration fee that can be provided by residents buying Ukash vouchers and then reading the coupon code over the phone. Fraudsters can then cash in the vouchers and leave residents out of pocket.
It has now been reported that two Tamworth based women lost £110 and £50 respectively as part of such a scheme. Meanwhile, a Stoke-on-Trent man was subject to a similar Ukash scheme but this time was applying for a loan. He paid £275 in vouchers but never received the loan.
Staffordshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit’s Detective Constable, Tim Whiteley, said “Ukash are simply cash vouchers and if you give the code to anyone it will allow them to cash the voucher or spend it from anywhere in the world. They can be safe if used as intended but if you step outside the guidelines of use, you are likely to get caught out.” He added that the code should never be given out over the phone and that if residents had any concerns over the calls they received, the police should be informed immediately.
I have been a victim of this case and the out from all bodies of the law is very poor in helping I have been to the police and fraud team the only reply I have heard is ” sorry sir we can not take this case any further due to the amount of avdence we have and this will cost too much for the police to search the phone line”. I ask where I’d the justice for the small shop keepers, if was a larger busniess like Tesco it would have been on the for t page. The companies like Ukash should have better security systems where they have accounts for each user, if the the same scenario happened to Ukash I don’t this the police would be able to do much would they? Or would they?