A WOMAN who nearly fell victim to a phone scam in Sidemoor, has spoken out to warn others of the sophistication of fraudsters.

The woman who didn’t want to be named, was targeted by someone claiming they were calling on behalf of the UK government financial services, and offering her a refund on bank charges.

She said: “They said I held a Barclays visa debit card, and read out the first four digits asking me to read out the rest of the number. Then they said could I read out the expiry and they’d tell me when the card started. I still can’t believe I did it.

“It was a call centre abroad, but they said they had offices in the UK. They asked me for the security code, and I said ‘no’. I said ‘call me back tomorrow I want to check with Barclays, this doesn’t sound right, I’m not giving you my code’.”

At that point the caller tried to convince her to give the information, and failing ended the call.

The woman has since cancelled her card, but she was surprised at how convincing the call was.

She added: “I’m not normally a vulnerable person and I very nearly fell for it. I’m just trying to make people aware. I’m sure there’s people more vulnerable than me, and I nearly did it. I’ve already called my parents and told them to tell their friends, but people should know.”

A spokesman for West Mercia Police said: “Any phone calls people receive from banks asking them to update their personal information should be treated with caution. Call the switchboard of the company in question, not any number given by the caller, and ask to be put through to the person that called. Banks will never ask customers to reveal PIN numbers, bank account numbers or passwords. Anyone who believes a PIN number may have been compromised, should change it immediately and alert the card supplier.”

For more information or advice on bank fraud, visit actionfraud.police.uk.