A few days ago, scammers appeared in Wałbrzych and, impersonating police officers, tried to extort money from the owner of one of the pharmacies. A man claiming to be a police officer called the woman on her landline. He told the pharmacist that a police operation was under way because hackers were trying to take over the pharmacy’s business account.
The owner asked why the police officer had not come to the pharmacy himself and had instead called her. The scammer then said he was ending the call. However, the woman should now call 997.
When the pharmacist did so, a man immediately answered and confirmed the version given by the pseudo-police officer.
A short while passed. The pseudo-officer called again. He began asking the woman about her bank accounts and the funds held in them. Finally, he asked for her mobile phone number.
That was when the pharmacist realised that she might fall victim to scammers. As it turned out, the criminals had tried to extort money from the owners of two other pharmacies in the same way.
Police urge people to exercise particular caution, especially during telephone conversations. Do not provide any information over the phone about our home, savings, when we are at home or who we live with. Do not answer surveys containing similar questions. Do not give cash or any other items to strangers. Do not let survey takers, salespeople, people claiming to be employees of various institutions or other suspicious individuals into your home. If someone claiming to be a relative calls us, always call back using a known number to confirm whether someone from our family really needs our help.
Any suspicious telephone calls should be reported to the police immediately.