Scam phone calls on the rise in Pazardzhik district

More than 20 attempts of telephone fraud have been registered in Pazardzhik district (Southern Bulgaria) in the past 2 days. The calls were made to landlines used by elderly and single people, the police said on February 23.

The registered calls are mainly to people in Pazardzhik, settlements in the municipality, as well as residents of Septemvri and Belovo.

The deceptive tactics emplyed by the scammers involve a caller deceiving the unsuspecting victim that an injured relative needs surgery or another classic example in which the perpetrators of this type of crime impersonate as police officers who are fighting against phone scammers and ask their potential victims to cooperate with cash or valuables to lure and capture them.

The police are appealing to citizens to be vigilant and not to succumb to the calls of strangers and not to give any amount of money or valuables to strangers on any pretext, even if they are posing as police officers.

Police authorities, in the course of their duties, never ask for money from the public in any form. In the event of such calls, the elderly should call their relatives, informing them of what has happened or report it to 112.