Anti-fraud advice given to Sevenoaks businesses

Anti-fraud advice has been given to businesses in Sevenoaks to help keep customers safe.

Steve Kelly and Rob Slade from the Protect and Prevent team, part of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, visited 14 businesses in Sevenoaks on Friday 15 July 2022.

They spoke to staff about courier fraud, which is a scam in which mostly elderly victims are tricked into handing over large sums of cash to criminals.

It usually involves someone pretending to be a police officer or bank employee asking the victim to withdraw money to assist in an investigation, with a courier then travelling to their home to collect the cash.

Steve Kelly said: ‘Elderly people are unfortunately those most frequently targeted by fraudsters, but many do not regularly use the internet and are therefore unaware of the tricks criminals use to try to steal their hard-earned money.

‘We are very grateful for the support of businesses and charity shops that we visited in Sevenoaks in sharing our crime prevention messages with their customers, as together we can make it much more difficult for criminals to succeed.

‘Fraudsters are always looking for new ways in which to exploit people in order to steal their money.

‘Our message is to remember the ABC rule to help protect yourself and others against fraud – never Assume someone is telling the truth or Believe what they say unless you are confident of their identity, and always Confirm the details they have provided.’