Scots have been warned of an 'unusually sophisticated' phone scam where frauds trick people into believing their mobile has been hacked.
Police have issued an appeal after receiving reports of scammers pretending to be from service providers.
Residents in Argyll and West Dunbartonshire in particular have been targeted.
The scam involves criminals contacting local people by telephone, claiming to be from a service provider such as an internet or mobile phone provider.
They go on to dupe the victim into believing that their mobile phone has been hacked and, in order to free up the phone, they must download and install an app in order to remove the ‘spyware’.
An unsuspecting victim is then talked through the process of ‘setting up’ the app by the crooks.
What they are really doing is enabling themselves to clone the victim’s mobile phone with all of their passwords and login information neatly saved into the rogue app allowing them to make purchases through any bank cards saved on the phone and even access online accounts.
Sergeant Marcus Littlejohn of Argyll and West Dunbartonshire Community Engagement Team said, “Telephone scams have been becoming increasingly sophisticated over the years with scammers finding ways of exploiting emerging technology to disadvantage their victims.
“Anyone can be taken in by these fraudsters so, please, don’t be embarrassed if you think you have been caught out and contact your bank or building society as soon as possible as well as Police Scotland on 101.”
