Northumbria Police have issued the message ‘Enough is enough’ to fraudsters.

The message comes following the launch of Scams Awareness Fortnight, a campaign led by Citizen’s Advice, on Monday June 14.

The campaign aims to tackle the rise of fraud in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic through education.

Detective Sergeant Philip Thoburn, the head of Northumbria Police’s Complex Fraud Investigation Unit, said the best thing for people to do was to accept nothing and challenge everything.

He said: “Over the past few years, we’ve seen the number of frauds reported increase and we’ve also seen the methods these con artist use become more complex and elaborate.

“What’s despicable is that fraudsters have not stopped because of the pandemic – they’ve just adapted. They continue to prey on people’s vulnerabilities and fears, exploiting the fact we are at home for longer periods of time and expecting more deliveries and correspondence.

“It sounds worrying, but the good news is that the majority of fraud is preventable. These criminals are experts in manipulating people and copying the methods of communication used by banks, HMRC, the police and other reputable organisations so the best thing you can do is assume any correspondence or cold-calls are fake.

“No reputable organisation will mind if you take your time, challenge them, or ask for proof and hand up. Only a fraudster will try and hurry you into making a rushed transaction or supplying personal details in a hurry. If in doubt, check it out using your trusted sources. So, for example, drop in to your local bank or call the number given on your statement. If you’re online and there’s a pop up, ignore it – if there’s a link – don’t click it

“If fraudsters ask you to put the phone down and dial 999 immediately, don’t do it – we’ve had a spate of courier frauds recently where victims have been unaware that the line takes around 10 seconds to clear and they’ve simply reconnected with the same number.”

Scams Awareness Fortnight runs from June 14 – 27 2021. Northumbria Police say that they are continuing to pursue scammers and bring them to justice, and are also determined to make sure the public feel confident and capable of challenging scammers to help catch them in the act.