Warning over cash voucher scam (From Daily Echo)

Warning over cash voucher scam

6:00am Friday 3rd February 2012 in News By Andrew Napier, Winchester Chief Reporter

HAMPSHIRE trading standards officers are warning about a new cash voucher scam targeting elderly residents.

Fraudsters are making unsolicited phone calls to people promising them cash in a lottery or sweepstake win or insurance refund.

Seventeen incidents have been reported in the last four months from across Hampshire with six in the Winchester/Eastleigh area, two in the New Forest and others in Upham, Alton and Denmead.

The fraudsters often pretend to be bank officials, working for a government body, or lottery representatives, and try to convince consumers that their prize is genuine.

They phone victims, persuade them to go out and buy a cash voucher and then in a later phone call get them to pass over the voucher's serial number. The victims are promised personal delivery of a cheque. Once the scammer has the serial number, they are never heard from again.

This warning follows an incident in New Milton in which an elderly lady was swindled out of money after receiving a call from someone claiming to be from the Ministry of Justice.

She was told that if she bought a Ukash voucher for £150, a representative would come to exchange the voucher for her insurance refund. The caller phoned back and she innocently provided the serial number of the voucher but he did not come to the house with a refund and she did not hear from him again.

County council leader Ken Thornber said: “This is a new scam which often targets vulnerable residents. In some cases elderly victims have been cheated out of hundreds of pounds as these cold callers can be so convincing with their stories.

“It is important that everyone is sceptical about any unsolicited offers, refunds or prizes, if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. A genuine government body or lottery operator would never ask someone to pay taxes, insurance or any other fee before receiving their 'winnings'”.

The advice from Trading Standards is never to send voucher codes to anyone asking for an upfront fee. If you do receive a call about an offer that sounds too-good-to-be-true, contact Trading Standards via Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or visit the Consumer Direct website www.consumerdirect.gov.uk