The calls in this scam, one of two currently active in the county, are made from a withheld number. The caller pretends to be from the NHS and is very friendly. When the resident answers the phone, the caller says "Hi, I'm from the NHS. We have your referral." The caller then asks the resident to confirm their identity by asking them for their personal details like name, address, etc.
Bethan Rastrick, ELFT's Counter Fraud Specialist, urges the public to be vigilant to such calls to avoid revealing personal information that could be used for fraudulent activity. She says, "Please do not disclose your personal details to a call of this nature. It has been reported that when the recipient of the call has asked the caller what NHS team they are from and what referral they are referring to, the caller has become abusive and sworn before hanging up, which is very upsetting."
It has also been reported that if the person being called does not answer the fraudster’s call on the first attempt, the caller has then attempted to ring back several times and then left a voicemail informing the person they will call them back.
In the background of the voicemail, there is talking and background noise similar to a busy call centre environment. This convincing background aims to make the resident believe they are calling a busy NHS call centre or office. A lot of fraudsters are known to use fake recordings of call centres to play in the background.
Another voicemail left stated the caller was from the NHS and they would call them back. But no telephone number was left.
Bethan goes on to say, "If you get a call from any of ELFT's services, our staff will be happy to provide their full name, the team they work for, their base and contact details, and the reason for their call. If the person calling you will not provide this information, tell them you are ending the call and hang up. Do not share any personal information. If you can, make a note of the phone number they call you from or the number they ask you to call them back on. The NHS and ELFT have high-levels of security in place to protect patient record systems from cybercrime and misuse. This is a key priority for us. Our systems are monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days throughout the year to keep all information safe. If you are in doubt about a call and are receiving care from one of our services, call us on the number you have on a letter or from the ELFT website, and just check."
If you think you have been the victim of a crime, please call Bedfordshire Police on 101. In an emergency please call 999