Scammers pretend to be from Amazon and broadband providers as police urge caution

Police have asked people to be wary as a spate of online and telephone hit the Glenrothes area.

A number of vulnerable people in Glenrothes have been targeted by fraudsters in recent weeks.

Police warn that scammers are pretending to be from Amazon who claim that they are looking for subscription renewal payment and ask the victim to visit a website which downloads software.

This will give them access to the victims computer, and their personal details.

Police warn of scammers pretending to be from Amazon.

Other reports say that some callers are pretending to be from a broadband provider asking about issues with routers and again, will ask for access to the victims computer.

All scammers will ask for money to be transferred.

Inspector Kirk Donnelly who is responsible for local policing in Glenrothes said “We are urging people to be aware of calls and contact of this nature and in particular to ensure that their elderly or vulnerable family members are also aware of these types of scam.

"These calls and emails are sent to many, with the hope that they will find someone who does have an account of this type and who may be persuaded to do as they ask.

“These callous criminals are well-rehearsed, sound knowledgeable, and can be very convincing, particularly to someone who may not be used to handling online accounts that they don’t use regularly. They may also have the name of the person they are calling which makes it sound more

genuine. If in any doubt, contact the organisation using a method you trust. Contact police through 101 if you have any concerns.”

This comes after a 72-year-old Fife grandmother was scammed out of a four figure sum of money.

The callers pretended to be from Amazon, and asked the woman to download an app which gave them access to her bank account.

The victims granddaughter said: “My gran was recently targeted by scammers claiming to be from Amazon.

"It was a recorded message and told her to press one to speak to an operator. She did and was told she needed to send them a copy of her driver licence and to download an app called 'team viewer' to verify it was her. She did both and within minutes they had gained access to her whole

laptop, bank details and emptied her account."

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.