PSNI warning public over scam attempts

Police in Northern Ireland have issued a warning about scams that aim to obtain sensitive data such as banking and credit card details from victims.

They said fraudsters have been using a number of scams to target people in the Londonderry and Strabane areas.

In one instance, a woman was convinced her computer had been hacked and paid criminals a sum of money to have it fixed.

Police said they have also received reports of email and credit card scams.

PSNI Ch Insp Bob Blemmings said police had received reports of attempted credit card fraud, two email scams and an attempt to convince a victim to hand over bank details and personal information to have a computer issue fixed.

"I can't stress enough - never ever disclose your personal or banking details to anyone over the phone or on e-mail, no matter how convincing they sound to you," Ch Insp Blemmings said.

He said banks, utility companies, law enforcement, tax agencies and telecoms providers "will never ask for remote access to your computer or request you to download software".

"The person or persons behind these e-mails claimed that if the person did not transfer a sum of money to them, they would release personal information about them to the public.

"Luckily no money was transferred," Ch Insp Blemmings said.

Police have asked anyone who thinks they may have been targeted to contact them.