Following a call from a concerned NHW co-ordinator in Ashleigh, Tiverton, we have been made aware of the following scam from a reliable source and wished to make others aware.
An email or call is sent to a person from Express Couriers saying they have a package for delivery to them when will they be at home. Within an hour of that call a delivery man turns up with a basket of flowers and a bottle of wine.
There is no note card with the package just a consignment note with scant details. The delivery man then says that as there is alcohol in the package there is a £3 charge to acknowledge it has been delivered and not kept by the delivery man.
The delivery man will not accept cash, as he says he needs an audit trail. He produces a card reader and asks for a credit or debit card. He then swipes the card and asks the person to enter their pin. He then leaves.
The card reader obviously makes a duplicate card and records the pin as within a few hours of the delivery the account is maxed out or emptied.
This email is to put people on guard not to accept any unexpected or unaccounted for deliveries and not to use a card to pay any charges.
WARNING: Be wary of accepting any “surprise gift or package”, which you neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a Condition of receiving the gift or package. Also, never accept anything if you do not personally know and/or there is no proper identification of who the sender is. Above all, the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction!
Devon & Cornwall Police
