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Fraud has been on the rise locally and nationally but steps are now being taken to arm people with enough advice and information to defeat scammers and their sneaky schemes.

Forth Valley community sergeant James Dougall said: "Officers from our Safer Communities Team will be heading a campaign to raise awareness of the different types of frauds, how to help you identify them and – most importantly – provide you with information that you can use to help protect yourself and your money in such situations.

“The last couple of years have understandably been particularly difficult for everyone within Forth Valley due to the Coronavirus pandemic and now, with the increases in cost of living, money has become an important issue for all.

“Within Forth Valley Division, as well as the rest of Scotland, we have observed a reported increase in various types of frauds and attempts to obtain money by whatever means possible.”

People should be able to hold onto their money in 2023 and not have it lining scammers' pockets

The most “popular” forms of fraud involve scammers contacting people via social media applications, pretending to be a family member and saying their phone is broken and they require to be sent money.

Other variations on that include scammers contacting people by phone stating there has been suspicious activity on their bank account and they need to change their account, or sending out text messages asking people to click on a specific link and provide their bank details.

Sgt Dougall said: “If you receive any calls, e-mails or text messages of this nature, I would always encourage you to not click on any attached links and end the call. I would also encourage you to make enquiries to check if the call or message is genuine.

"Make contact with your own bank to clarify any potential issues with your accounts, or contact an appropriate family member and speak to them personally to ascertain if they do indeed require financial assistance.

“You should know government agencies will not contact you via telephone to obtain money from you. Any contact or communication will be done via letter. This is also the case with banking establishments, who do not request banking details over the telephone.

"Therefore, if anyone ever asks for bank account details or passwords pertaining to your account, you should be suspicious and terminate the call immediately.”

Police announce plans for campaign to keep Falkirk fraud free in 2023