[C]umbria Police have this week received a report from a member of the public of a new scam which attempts to gain money.
The telephone scam relates to a caller purporting to be from a ‘company’ called The Call Prevention Service, stating that they can block any unwanted calls for a fee of £29 paid by credit card (in this instance).
The incident on Tuesday (Nov 7th) was reported by a woman from Harrington in her 70s. Fortunately, she did not hand over any details and instead contacted police for advice.
A Cumbria police spokesperson said: “In this particular scam the caller is claiming to offer a similar service to that of the Telephone Preference Service (TPS). This is the first report we have received in the area, although we are aware that this type of scam has occurred previously.
“We would like to warn consumers not to respond to such calls. You can contact the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) directly on 0345 070 0707 if you wish to opt out of unsolicited calls, it is the only official OPT-OUT telephone registration service and is completely free to all UK consumers.
“The TPS will never call a current subscriber or ‘cold call’ consumers to ask for personal details or payments to complete a registration.
“We would like to remind consumers not to give out personal or financial information over the telephone. Be cautious and if in doubt, hang up. ”
Anyone who comes across such a scam should contact Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.org.uk or contact the Action Fraud Hotline on 0300 123 2040 as they are the investigatory body for offences of this type. Always dial 999 in an emergency.
