By Covid scam costing Doncaster residents
A Covid-19 phone scam currently operating in Doncaster has cost one resident at least £800.
Staff at Doncaster’s citizens advice bureau services say they have seen a surge of hundreds of calls.
James Woods, development officer at Citizens Advice Doncaster Borough, said that the impact of lockdown had seen people falling behind with bills, rent and council tax, as well as seeing more people claiming universal credit.
Recently, there has been a new concern among Doncaster residents – the rise of the Covid-19 scam.
James believes that over the past few weeks, Doncaster has specifically been targeted by phone scammers.
He said:
“We have seen a big increase in scams, and I think that has happened particularly in Doncaster, where we have seen a scam involving test and trace.
“People are phoning people up saying to their victims that they have to pay for test and trace.
“For real test and trace there is no charge – but people are paying out money. We have seen someone have £800 taken from their account through this.
“That is something that we are really worried about.
“It has been in the news that the number of cases in Doncaster had been rising, and we think that makes people more likely to agree to go along with these scams, and if people have been self isolating, they may not have anyone they can run it past, making them more vulnerable.
“We’ve had 30 to 40 calls about this sort of scam.
“If someone asks for financial details, its likely to be a scam.
“Citizens Advice nationally have not made us aware of the track and trace scam, so I think it may be a local issue.”
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