Swansea Trading Standards is urging residents in the city to be on their guard after two locals were conned into sending money to India.
The two unsuspecting victims were unaware of where the money was bound for but were fooled into thinking the money would help set up much needed loans which had previously been arranged over the phone.
One of the victims arranged a £50 money transfer expecting to be given a £4000 loan in return. However, the loan was never set up and since then the individual has been bombarded with further calls for more money.
Trading Standards Divisional Officer, David Picken said, “These innocent consumers have been tricked into arranging a money transfer which ends up in the pockets of conmen posing as legitimate businesses.
“Very often, the people who fall for these con artists are more vulnerable and have money problems themselves. This can lead them to take more risks to try and obtain a loan or believe they have won a competition.”
“No legitimate company is going to do business in this way and we warn consumers not to part with any money especially if it’s going to an overseas account. Be absolutely sure who you are dealing with”.
Various money transfer agents including Western Union have joined forces with the Metropolitan Police and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and have already issued warnings on their own websites.
The warning also comes a month after the Ministry of Justice issued a similar warning to UK consumers after being made aware of a scam involving consumers being telephoned by people who claim they are from the Ministry.
The callers suggest that the consumer could receive payments such as the repayment of bank charges or other debts. They are asked to provide personal information such as bank account details and make an upfront payment, often by money transfer. In other examples, the caller claims to be calling from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) or a high street bank.
A spokeperson for the Ministry of Justice said, “These callers have no connection with Ministry of Justice, OFT or other genuine organisations and the intention appears to be to use the details for identity theft in order to commit crimes using the stolen details.”
Consumers who may have received such a call are advised to report the matter to the Consumer Direct service on 08454 040506.
- Money transfer agents provide a service for those who need to send money quickly and reliably to friends and family, and should not be used for money transfer to people that you do not know or whose identity you cannot verify
- Never send money via MTS if you have been in receipt of lottery fraud email during which you are encouraged by the fraudster to send money in the form of advance fees to gain the release of lottery funds
