Hemel Hempstead woman warns people to be cautious of suspicious callers

The first call was claiming to be from Amazon, the second one was asking her who owned the property and the third was about a funeral plan.

The woman, who does not wish to be named, is warning others to be careful when receiving suspicious calls.

She said: "I want to make people aware of what happened and the possible consequences when answering unexpected phone calls.

"I'm not sure how they got my number, it's supposed to be ex-directory.

"The call from the woman claiming to be from Amazon, I think was definitely a scam, she said that Amazon Prime had been added to my account and if I wanted it removed she could do it for me if I gave her my details.

"I have spoken to Amazon and they said they do not call people about stuff like that, they will only message you on your account."

"I haven't reported it to the police but I want to warn others about it."

Hertfordshire Police has advice online about telephone scams.

On the Hertfordshire Police website it says: "Fraudsters often try to trick people, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, out of their money by telephoning them at home and pretending to be someone trustworthy.

"They use well-rehearsed stories, designed to gain their victim’s trust, for example pretending to be police officers who have just arrested someone using a copy of your bank card and alerting you that your money is in danger, or pretending to be from your phone or computer service provider and claiming that there is a problem with your system that they need to fix.

"Fraudsters often claim to be officials and can seem very genuine, but you should always bear in mind that callers may not be who they claim to be, even if they already seem to know details such as your name and address."

The force has issued the following advice:

- Be sceptical of callers, even those who claim to be officials.

- Don’t be afraid to put the phone down with a brief ‘No, thank you’.

- Never give personal information, such as your date of birth or bank details, to unexpected callers.

- Never allow an unexpected caller to talk you through processes on your computer, like downloading new software or accessing your online bank account.

- Remember that the police or your bank would NEVER unexpectedly call you and ask you to withdraw cash or move your money to another account, as a result of fraud or any other reason.

- If callers suggest you call your local police or bank to check who they are, use another phone or ensure the line has been fully disconnected by phoning a friend or relative first, or by waiting at least 3 minutes, otherwise you may think you’ve phoned a number, but you’re simply talking to the fraudsters again. This is a common fraudsters’ tactic.

- If a caller asks you to type your bank PIN number into your telephone handset - do not do this, as fraudsters can use technology to identify the numbers.