Homeowners in Angus have been warned about a new scam which targets people making PPI claims.
Friockheim resident Tam Carcary raised the alarm after receiving an unsolicited call from a person purporting to represent the Claims Advisory Group, based in Manchester.
Mr Carcary, 75, said: “I’ve had calls like this a few times before and my wife has too. I get the feeling these people try and prey on the elderly as they might not realise what’s going on.”
Mr Carcary has a legitimate claim being handled by the Advisory Group and was told by the cold caller he was in line to receive £2,455, which would be given to him following a personal visit by a solicitor named as “Mr Robinson”.
However, in order to receive the pay-out he was told he would have to go to the local Co-operative store or Costcutters in Arbroath and put £100 into a UKash cheque to give to the lawyer.
Mr Carcary told The Courier: “I received the call from the person claiming to be from the company I’m dealing with and they quoted me a claims number and a figure I was going to get.
“They said a solicitor would bring it round but that I had to get a £100 UKash cheque to give to him.
“I called the Claims Advisory Group who told me I had been given a false claims number and that the number they had given me to call was wrong too.
“They are passing it on to their people to look at in their complaints department.”
An internet search of the telephone number given to Mr Carcary returned similar testaments from other homeowners who have been contacted in the past month by the same people.
Mr Carcary reported the incident to police and Angus Council, the latter of which warned residents to be on their guard.
A spokeswoman for the local authority said: “Our advice is that if anyone receives such a call, they should not give out any personal information or credit card details.
“For further assistance or advice, contact Angus Council trading standards via the ACCESSLine on 08452 777 778.”
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