Surlingham

Telephone cold calls and voicemail messages claiming to be from ‘HMRC’

Norfolk residents reporting telephone cold calls and voicemail messages claiming to be from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) about unpaid tax.

HMRC have also been made aware that fraudsters are spoofing legitimate HMRC phone numbers in some scam calls. It is possible the scammers may attempt to use the spoofed number on caller ID as a way of trying to authenticate the call.

HMRC advise they will ‘never call out of the blue asking for payment’.

Alert – Doorstep cold-caller pointing out ‘loose tiles’

We are warning residents to be on their guard after a man cold-called at a property in North Norwich.

The man told the resident that he was ‘working nearby’, ‘could see some loose tiles on the roof’ and offered to put them back into place. The resident agreed to the cold-caller going onto the roof.

Following this, the cold-caller came back to the resident and said that he could see that the ‘felt was damaged under the tiles’ and then quoted a price to repair the problem. The resident declined this offer and the cold-caller left the property.

Alert – Doorstep cold-callers offering to do ‘driveway work’

We are warning residents to be on their guard after receiving reports of two men going door to door in the Taverham area offering to do driveway work.

Alert – Doorstep cold-caller offering ‘free loft insulation check

We are warning residents to be on their guard after receiving a report of a doorstep cold-caller in the Dersingham area.

In the incident a resident received a doorstep cold call from a man who claimed he was ‘offering free checks on loft insulation’ as ‘old insulation is not up to British Standards and is a fire risk’. The man also claimed they had ‘Government Approval’. The resident declined the offer and reported the cold call to us.

Alert – Doorstep cold-caller in the South Norfolk area offering furniture –

We are warning residents to be on their guard after receiving reports of a man cold-calling in the South Norfolk area offering furniture.

The cold-caller claimed that he was ‘returning from a show’ and that ‘all of the furniture on the van was reduced’. He was seen to return to a white Mercedes van.

Alert – Emails claiming to have ‘hacked your mailbox’

We are warning about emails circulating that state they have ‘hacked this mailbox more than six months ago’ and include a password that will be known to the email recipient. 

The emails go on to make claims to have ‘access to all your accounts, social networks, email, browsing history’ and ‘all your contacts, files from your computer, photos and videos’. The emails then make accusations about websites you have visited and threaten to share this with your contacts unless an amount is paid in Bitcoin.

The use of a password known to the email recipient is a new twist on this type of email and the concern is that it may make recipients believe the email is genuine and consider paying the amount demanded.

Action Fraud believe the email contact and the associated password are likely to have been gained by the scammers in an old data breach. They are offering the following advice regarding this type of email and how to protect yourself:

• Don’t reply to the email or be pressured into paying: it only highlights that you’re vulnerable and you could be targeted again. The police advise that you do not pay criminals. Try flagging the email as spam/junk if you receive it multiple times
• Perform password resets as soon as possible on any accounts where you’ve used the password mentioned in the email. Always use a strong, separate password for important accounts, such as your email. Where available, enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
• Always install the latest software and app updates. Install or enable anti-virus software on your laptops and computers and keep it updated
• If you have received one of these emails and paid the fine, report it to your local police force. If you have not paid, report the email as a phishing attempt to Action Fraud using their online form or by telephone on 0300 123 2040