West Bergholt Pharmacy in Colchester last month (March 30) issued a warning to patients about the scam via a post on its Facebook page.

The post said that the pharmacy had “been notified that there is a scam going about where people are phoning claiming to be from West Bergholt Pharmacy demanding card details so medication can be delivered”.

It stressed that “this is in no way connected” to the pharmacy, which “[does] not charge for delivering medication”.

“Strange phone call”

Contractor and lead pharmacist at West Bergholt Pharmacy Nikunj Shah told C+D last week (April 3) that the scam was uncovered because the scammers “cold called a patient that actually didn’t have medication”.

He said that the scammer told the patient that they needed to “take a payment” before delivering some medication, but the patient “hung up” because they’re “not on any medication”.

Read more: Pharmacist slapped with 12-month suspension for illegal supply of 2m pills

The pharmacy was alerted to the fake call after the patient’s partner called to say that they had “a very strange phone call” that they were “99% sure” wasn’t genuine, Mr Shah added.

“These people are picking numbers and looking at the local area and seeing where the local pharmacy is” so that victims “trust that name”, he told C+D.

“Not a local problem”

While at first he “thought it was an isolated thing” and “didn’t want to scare people” by issuing a warning, he later learned that another local pharmacy had “sent out a message” about “similar” incident, Mr Shah said.

And he added that he has also “heard about it happening in other areas”.

Read more: UK gang members jailed for part in illegal sale of prescription meds worth £3.7m

“This is not a local problem,” he told C+D.

It comes as Scottish newspaper The Courier also reported last week (March 31) that “elderly people” in Fife were being targeted by “phone scammers pretending to be their pharmacists and asking for money” in a “spate of attempted frauds”.