Kent Trading Standards have received reports from consumers who have been contacted by crooks claiming to be from Action Fraud.
The genuine Action Fraud is the UK’s national fraud reporting centre where consumers can report if they have been scammed or defrauded.
The caller, who has a heavy Asian accent, states that the consumer has been the victim of a scam whereby £800.00 has apparently been taken fraudulently from their bank account (the scammer appears to know which bank the consumer uses).
The caller then goes on to say that Action Fraud can obtain the consumer’s money back for them but in order to do this £200.00 has to be paid via Western Union for the refund. The scammers then ask for a further £300.00 to be paid.
Kent Trading Standards warn people not to pay these bogus telephone callers; there is no way to trace Western Union payments as they are in effect cash transactions. This is a scam. You will lose your money.
Action Fraud are in no way affiliated with these scammers and would never under any circumstances advise a consumer that they can obtain a refund.
You can report fraud online using Action Fraud’s reporting service.
Read more about the fraud on the Kent Trading Standards website.
Please note: Action Fraud is not responsible for the content on external websites.
To report a fraud, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.
