FRAUDSTERS have targeted a Bracknell councillor as part of a phone scam for money.

Councillor Mary Temperton (Labour, Great Hollands North) has warned others as she was targeted by scammers who were posing as police and bank employees.

Now, she hopes to makes other residents aware and what she should’ve done to verify the activity was fraudulent.

The scam began when cllr Temperton was called by ‘Detective Sergeant Cooper’ PC 3451 from Bradford Police, who claimed that they’d arrested Derek Temperton and served as her full-time carer.

Cllr Temperton, said: “I said all this was a lie and didn’t know anyone called Derek Temperton.

“I was given a crime number and advised to phone the police fraud department, which I did.

“A lady immediately answered and handled my query. She looked up the Bradford crime number. She advised me to call the bank but told me she could help to connect me to their fraud department, all I had to do was phone the number on the back of my credit card.”

She was then told that her current account had been compromised, and was called by ‘Superintendent Thomas Bird from  Scotland Yard’ who asked her to investigate fraud.

Eventually, he directed her to ‘help’ the investigation by sending money at a bank in Bracknell, to identify a suspected employee and arrest them.

Cllr Temperton continued: “He said my account had been accessed 23 times in the last month with money withdrawal attempts.

“He then told me about fraudulent practices experienced by old people in the area, who’d all lost considerable amounts when accessing their account at the Bracknell High Street bank.

“I agreed to assist him, with my cover story being that I was transferring money to my daughter-in-law.”

The superintendent then made some bizarre requests: that cllr Temperton leave her mobile on so he could listen in, and park as close to the bank as possible.

She continued: “He then told me if I got a parking fine, not to worry, the police would pay this.

“This sounded the alarm. Why would the police tell me to commit an offence? I asked why I couldn’t do it the next day, once the police have visited and given me assurance this was genuine. He insisted the police could only come once an arrest had been made.

“I was told if I did not really want to go through with this, he understood, but this was a chance to stop older people being abused.  He tried to reassure me that this couldn’t be a scam because I’d phoned both the police and the bank myself.

“This reminded me that I’d phoned 191 not 101 and that the lady had kept the phone open so I could phone the bank fraud department directly. I hadn’t called the bank on my own, I decided not to go through with it.

“I phoned my bank,  realising it was a scam. I had not actually shared any personal data. I then reported it to Action Fraud.”

She added, in hindsight, she should have:

Phoned Bradford Police and checked the details  given

Phone 101 -not 191 as told- as this is the known non-emergency police number

She believed the calls had ended, but on a landline if the person placing the call does not end it, the line remains open; which enabled the criminals to transfer her to each other. She thought she was phoning different numbers and people.

Police numbers rarely answer straight away- it took her 55 minutes to get through to 101 to report the scam

Police do not ask people to investigate in the way the detective from ‘Scotland Yard’ did.

Cllr Temperton has shared her story with the Public Protection Partnership (PPP), which handles fraud cases in Bracknell Forest.

The PPP has stressed that neither your bank or police will call you to verify your personal details or PIN by phone or offer to pick up your card by courier. Hang up if you get a call like this.

Anyone who suspects a scam like this should contact The Citizens Advice Consumer Service [https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/report-to-trading-standards/?co=3438&frm=citacomplainform&to=flare.fromforms]  03454 04 05 06or Action Fraud [https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime] 0300 123 2040.

You can read more details here: https://publicprotectionpartnership.org.uk/news-articles/bracknell-councillor-reports-attempted-telephone-scam/