Royal Bank of Scotland n Largs has issued an urgent scam alert following the new lockdown.

The lockdown at the beginning of March saw an increase in scams of 400% according to Action Fraud and Royal Bank is hoping that by alerting customers in advance and further raising awareness of these types of scams, criminals will be less able to take advantage of the current lockdown measures.

Vaccination scams are emerging as one of the top threats. A phone call, email or text message is sent in an attempt to steal personal and financial details. The message contains a link to a fake NHS website with an application form to register for the vaccine asking for various personal and bank details which are then used by criminals.

Jason Costain, Head of Fraud at Royal Bank said: “You are now more likely to be a victim of fraud than any other crime. During last year’s lockdown criminals took advantage of more people working remotely and online. It therefore makes sense to take some simple steps to make yourself and your family more fraud proof.”

More information on how to avoid scams is available from www.rbs.co.uk