I just heard this on a local radio / trading standards phone in and as it's a new one on me it's worth posting for reference in case anyone else gets one of these "invitations" which went along the lines of...
Lady gets a phone call from someone claiming to be from an insurance company and saying she's overpaid so she's due a refund.
To get the refund they need from her a signed cheque for ?1, which they will collect by courier from her at her house at a pre-arranged time.
They will then issue her with the refund.
So, what could possibly go wrong? You will only lose ?1 if it's not legit huh?
WRONG! You will probably lose the entire contents of your bank account and more!!!
So how does this work?
Firstly, you are supplying a signed cheque - this gives a scammer your bank name and address, the account number, the bank's sort code, AND a specimen of your signature.
Add to that they already have your phone number (as they rang you), your name - it's on the cheque, and your address - the courier is calling to collect the cheque.
Basically they have all they need to
1. empty your bank account for you
and
2. steal your identity
Does that ?1 still sound like a bargain? I think not!
If you get one of these calls, try and find out a company name, get their phone number (and check it with the 1471 service on your phone), and then report it to your local Trading Standards (get their contact details from the phone book or from your local authority's website.)
DON'T, WHATEVER YOU DO, GIVE ANYONE DETAILS LIKE THIS - EVER!
No legitimate company will ever ask you for a payment to unlock a refund like this.
