MORE than £170,000 has been lost by residents in the Dyfed Powys Police area, the force has said, after being targeted by a new sophisticated method of fraud.

Criminals are using a two-step approach that starts with a text message, usually claiming to be DPD, Royal Mail or Covid-19 related.

Regardless of what people do with this text, they will receive a phone call a few days later from someone claiming to be their bank, informing them that a recent text has compromised their account.

They will look to convince people that the text they received a few days ago has caused suspicious activity on their bank account.

They claim that the account is no longer safe and that their money needs to be moved in to a ‘safe’ account.

This ‘safe’ account belongs to the criminals and once transferred, the money is gone.

Sadly, this new sophisticated method has seen several residents in the Dyfed-Powys Police area fall victim to it, with over £170,000 lost so far.

DC Gareth Jordan, from Dyfed-Powys’ Economic Crime Team, said: ‘They are using the fraudulent text messages that we have unfortunately become accustomed to and adding an extra step, which appears to be a totally separate interaction.

“This extra layer disarms you and potentially puts every member of the public at risk, not just those considered vulnerable or less aware of fraud.”