PEOPLE are being advised to be aware of the dangers of number spoofing after a couple almost had their bank passwords stolen from them.

Ron Cargill, from Coalsnaughton, said the phone number had a Clackmannanshire dialling code, 01259, and went straight to a voicemail telling him £1400 had been withdrawn from their accounts.

From here, the voicemail said steps must be taken to safeguard the account and proceeded to ask Ron to press 1 to change the password. Distrusting the phone call, Ron hung up.

Speaking to the Advertiser, he said: “My wife and I thought it might have been the bank calling us on an 01259 number because it said £300 had been taken out on Amazon and £1100 went to an overseas bank transfer.

“After that, it asked us to press 1 to continue and to get the money back.

“I put the number down and blocked it immediately but then we had a further two calls come up straight from 01259 numbers asking us the same thing.”

“It could happen to any old person – they see the dialling code and think it’s the bank. My wife was going to do it but stopped herself.”

This particular scam is known as number spoofing, in which the bogus caller can disguise their phone number to pose as somebody else.

Scammers use this to change their number to one the intended victim is more likely to trust – in this instance, a Clackmannanshire dialling code as opposed to an overseas number.

Forth Valley Police Division has warned about number spoofing and posted advice on their Facebook page.

A post said: “Number spoofing is when scammers clone the telephone number of the organisation they want to impersonate and then make it appear on the victim’s caller ID display when they telephone them on a landline.

“The scammers will then gain the person’s trust by highlighting the number to them, claiming that this is proof of their identity, before trying to scam them in various ways.

“Once criminals have their victim’s confidence, they will try to obtain extra information such as the victim’s PIN, online passwords or other sensitive information which will then be used to steal from their bank account.

“If you are ever concerned about the identity of a caller, hang up and contact a number you trust. If you have been the victim of a scam, please contact us on 101 or 999 in an emergency.”