Residents Warned to Remain Vigilant for Suspected Telephone Scam [Updated]
Mon, 2019-10-07
The Bermuda Police Service is once again reminding residents to remain vigilant regarding phone calls, e-mails and other correspondence from unknown persons that attempt to obtain money, personal information and other sensitive data.
On Saturday the 5th of October police received multiple calls from members of the public about the possible fraudulent use of 441-405-9999.
Callers stated that the person calling from that number claimed they were conducting a census and asked for personal information such as name, date of birth etc.
Calling the number back results in an automated message stating that your call cannot be completed as dialed.
Residents that receive similar calls from 441-405-9999 or any other telephone number are strongly advised to ignore the calls.
Any incidents of suspected telephone or internet fraud should be reported to the Financial Crime Unit on telephone number 247-1757 or via the e-mail address fraud2@bps.bm.
Advice on how to avoid and report scams can also be found at https://www.gov.bm/how-avoid-and-report-scams.
Update: Tuesday, October 8th - The Bermuda Police Service welcomes the clarification from Total Research Associates Limited that their legitimate phone survey of Bermuda residents utilised the telephone number 441-405-9999.
In an abundance of caution, an advisory was sent out on Monday, October 7th regarding the possible fraudulent use of 441-405-9999, after several calls were received from concerned members of the public on Saturday, October 5th.
Red flags included residents being asked for personal information such as their name and year of birth as well as the automated message that was initially received when calling back 441-405-9999 stating that the call cannot be completed as dialled – which has since been updated to let callers know that the telephone number is used by Total Research Associates Limited to conduct regular public opinion and market research surveys.
Personal details are valuable and although they can be requested for legitimate purposes – as in this case – members of the public should remain wary of divulging such sensitive information over the phone or online to unknown persons.
