It was an almost mission for Paul and Victoria.
“They almost had me,” said Paul.
“They go into a shock mode in which they don't really think terribly.
“And also an adequate plausibility in some of them, because they claimed that I had not managed to pay marketing costs for the holiday home business that I actually do. And they would result in my cell phone number and they knew my name.
“There were a few questions in which it felt like it had been real – sufficient to make me scared …”
The Ministry of Justice said it was a crime to pretend to be a bailiff, and that everyone who receives a similar call should put on and find the right number for the court.
Sarah Naylor, from the Civil Association, Civil Enforcement Association, said the number of reports that their organization received through this tactic, and that this would probably be the top of the iceberg, since only a few victims would think of real bailiffs notify after they have been cheated.
“These fraud companies work on the basis of urgency and fear,” she said.
Real enforcement officers will always plan again and give people time to check details and would never offer a payment option.
“Breathe and reflect on a breath and reflect,” she advised everyone who receives a similar call.
“It doesn't seem to be a legitimate enforcement representative.”