The Pink Link Ltd Warn of Fraudulent Letters

>

Spam letters supposedly from The Pink Link Ltd were sent to its customers advising them of a change of bank details and saying that in future payments to the firm should be made in accordance with the new details.

Now The Pink Link Ltd is warning other businesses to double check the authenticity of emails and letters purporting to come from suppliers notifying them of a change in bank details.

A letterhead bearing an out-of-date company logo was used alongside the company’s real address and phone number. The letters gave NatWest Bank account numbers and sort codes which do not belong to The Pink Link Ltd and closed with a forged signature for sales and commercial director Vicki Davenport – although it wrongly titled her “head of finance”.

Another local business was also affected after a separate scam took place following letters to their customers requesting payments.

In both cases, the frauds only came to light after vigilant customers contacted the firms to double check that the changes in bank details were correct. The incidents have been reported to the police.

Vicki Davenport, Sales and Commercial Manger at The Pink Link Ltd commented: “We rang a lot of our customers within the hour when we found out about it. I know of a dozen big customers who received the letters.”

Det Insp Ben McDonald, of West Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “Sadly, these types of scams can be quite common and we would always advise businesses to be vigilant.

“If businesses receive letters or email communications advising them of a change of payment details we’d advise them to contact their supplier or customer – Businesses should always make these checks before transferring any money.”

Protect your business and download the ‘Little book of big scams’ provided by the Metropolitan Police here.