A member received scam calls following a minor road mishap – here’s how to avoid falling into the scammer’s trap.
A Which? member wrote to us when scammers targeted him following a road accident:
‘Several months ago I had a minor car accident. No one was hurt and damage to the other car was minimal, with none to mine.
‘A few days ago, I rejected a cold call and over the next few days there were two others, one of which my wife answered.
‘She was told that it concerned an accident that I’d had. A day or two later, I got a text that said: ‘Great news. We have £2,866.21 in your name for the accident you had, to put in your bank.”
Our advice
Calls promising compensation for car accidents are common nuisance calls. Most people who receive these haven’t been in a car crash, so it’s easier to dismiss the calls. But as you were involved in an accident, it’s good you recognised it as a scam.
The scammers will try to catch your interest with the large lump-sum payment, then lock you in with a seemingly easy claim process. This is just a ruse to get your personal information or your banking details.
No third-party insurance company would ever contact you about a car accident involving you or a member of your family, and you should always question any out-of-the-blue promises of money.
If you want to stop these calls, register your number with the free Telephone Preference Service (TPS), which logs your preference not to receive unsolicited sales or marketing calls.
Have you received the car accident scam phone call? How did you deal with it?
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