FUW issues Single Payment fraudsters warning
It's happened before and it will happen again if farmers are not vigilant.
The Farmers’ Union of Wales today warned Welsh farmers that they may become the target for fraudsters seeking to obtain their bank details over the telephone or online to coincide with the release of their Single Farm Payments.
“The Welsh Government and other UK agriculture departments have already been made aware by UK banks that fraudsters may be targeting the agricultural sector,” said FUW president Emyr Jones.
“Although Rural Payments Wales say they have not been informed of any Welsh victims of this fraud we would still urge farmers to be vigilant and bear in mind the possibility they may be approached by fraudsters posing as an official from their bank or other organisation.”
Rural Payments Wales has advised that the UK paying agencies and other official bodies will never ask for personal or banking data by telephone or by e-mail.
Their message is the same as with all advice to avoid fraud:
- Your bank will never request your full online banking information,
- Your bank will never request a token response to log into your online banking account,
- Your bank will never ask you to make a payment over the phone using your online account,
- If your “bank” asks you to call back you should ensure you can hear a dial tone first, or use a mobile to call your bank directly, as the phone line may be held open by the fraudsters.
