A new wave of Scam debt collectors is targeting the UK’s general public it emerged yesterday. Leading UK Debt Collection Agency Frontline Collections issued a warning to members of the public via their website. They advised they had been made aware that overseas criminals masquerading as a ‘Frontline Collections enforcement team’ and contacting unsuspecting members of the British public.
A statement issued on the Frontline Collections website said that they had been informed by members of the public that foreign call centre scammers have been contacting people claiming to be from Frontline Collections. Then aggressively demanding immediate money payments or a CCJ will be issued and Bailiffs sent the same day.
As well as making phone calls, the scammers have also been issuing fake SMS text messages demanding immediate payment via a link inserted within the text.
Immediate actions have been taken by Frontline Collections to have all means of the scammers avenues of communications into the UK shut down. The Police have also been informed as well as the Action Fraud team.
Other debt collection agencies names are also being reportedly used such as the Lowell Group. Members of the general public are urged to exercise caution if they receive unwarranted and aggressive phone calls demanding payment for a debt they have no knowledge of.
What is a debt collection scammer?
A debt collection scammer is a criminal who is trying to steal money from a business or individual, by posing as a debt collection agency. The scammers will be very aggressive and demand immediate payment for a non existent debt.
What can sometimes make these debt collection scammers convincing is that they may have some of your details via web hacks performed by other associated criminals.
Debt Collection scammers are also notoriously aggressive and can threaten people with harm, or false claims that they will make people homeless or even have them sent to prison.
They will generally not be able to offer any information or documentation to support their claims and any intended victims will have zero knowledge of the purported ‘debt’.
Very often, call centre debt collection scams are run from overseas call centres. The BBC led an investigation into Indian based call centre scammers where it has become big business for Indian Criminals.
What if I have been contacted by a scam debt collector or debt collection scammer?
Contact the Police via Action Fraud and log details of the ‘attempt’ immediately by visiting their website
