The Ross Gazette has received a warning about scammers who are pretending to make phone calls on behalf of the Royal British Legion.

Graham Aplin, Chairman of the Ross-on-Wye branch of the Royal British Legion contacted the Ross Gazette on Thursday, August 15th after he receieved a phone call from a local Royal British Legion member who was asked fraudulently about donating to the poppy appeal.

Graham wanted to reassure residents and said: “We are not doing house to house calls at this moment so I am very concerned that this contact is a scam.

“If any phone calls are made then residents should not give any money to the caller. If anyone is contacted they should refer them to either myself, as Branch Chairman, or to Ross-on-Wye ‘s Royal British Legion’s Branch Secretary, Mrs Janet Knapper.

“It is important to inform our community that we work during each year collecting to support our armed forces.

“Please do not give any access to anyone who claims to be from the Royal British Legion. Our local branch can be contacted to check who these individuals are.” 

These cold-call phone scams are known as ‘vishing’ scams. They typically involve fraudsters deceiving people into believing they are speaking to a police officer, a member of bank staff or a representative of another trusted company or agency such as the Royal British Legion.

Usually, the fraudster will convince an individual to part with their money, and will ask for personal and financial information in order to gain access to their bank account.

For anyone who may wish to contact the Ross-on-Wye of the Royal British Legion, please call Graham on 07788 272500 and Janet on 07736 303074.

Graham said: “Under no circumstance should anyone provide cash to those who make direct contact at a home address. 

“We are happy to receive calls that highlight this scam. So please let us know and we can notify the police of what is happening in our area.”