It seems the phone never stops ringing these days with conmen on the other end of the line, trying to part you from your hard earned money through any manner of nefarious means. One of the most insidious forms of modern scammery, which has resulted in the loss of millions of pounds from both businesses and members of the public, is what is known as Mandate Fraud.

In essence, Mandate Fraud is when the scammer contacts the scam-ee with the intention of redirecting an existing standing order or Direct Debit. In the case where the victim is a business, the scammer will contact the victim and usually pretend to be one of their existing suppliers. They will then claim that they have set up a new bank and give a new account number and sort code for the victim to make their payments to. The first the victim finds out they’ve been scammed is when the ACTUAL supplier contacts them, wondering where their money is.

A variation of the same scam is often run on members of the public. In such cases, the con artist may pretend to be from a charity you make a monthly payment to, and will again say that due to a change in their bank they will give you a new account number and sort code into which you should make your monthly donations. This is a variation on the 'Safe Account' scam, where the fraudster pertains to be from your bank and advises you that because of a security breach you have to transfer your funds into a new account.

Please remember, ALWAYS BE EXTREMELY WARY SHOULD ANYONE ASK YOU TO MAKE CHANGES TO ANY OF YOUR BANKING ARRANGEMENTS.

To protect communities and organisations from these fraudulent scams, a Bank Mandate Fraud guidance document has been produced by Police Scotland in partnership with Action Fraud and the National Anti-Fraud Network. This can be found by clicking HERE.

Further details are available on the Police Scotland website by clicking HERE.