WARNING after local residents targeted by scammers

Two different scams have been reported by residents in Sefton during the past fortnight.

The following text was received by phone “PayPal: Your account is limited due to a failed payment request from UBER BV” the recipient was asked to log on to a link to remove the restriction.

The resident didn’t have a PayPal account and had never used UBER. This is possible a phishing incident where any random number is pressed on the phone by the scammer hoping the recipient will respond.

A second resident received an automated call supposedly from Visa and Master Card to warn him that £600 was about to be taken from his account and sent to a foreign country. To stop this from happening he had to press a number on his phone. If the recipient didn’t respond within half an hour the transaction would go through.

Both residents knew how to react and did not carry out the scammers requests. Note that both scams required the person who received the call to either press a number or log on to a link to respond.

What are the scammers after? Usually bank details so they can access your accounts.