27 June 20.00, Fraud, Västerås

Police are currently seeing a strong increase in scams and attempts at scams in Västerås.

The perpetrators send SMS and pose as a relative or family member who urgently needs financial help. They encourage the recipient to transfer money to a different phone number than the relative's.
In the SMS, it often says something like "My phone has broken down, so transfer to this number instead".

Police advice:
* Always be suspicious of unexpected messages about money.
* Call a relative on a phone number you already know before making any transfer.
* Never transfer money without first checking that you are actually in contact with the right person.

Feel free to talk to elderly relatives and alert them to this type of scam.

On Saturday evening, the police handled 4 reports where the victims lost money and around 5 attempts at scams.