Rural Payments and Services

Farmers and crofters should be extremely wary of any suspicious calls, texts or emails as fraudsters specifically target the agricultural sector during the Single Application Form (SAF) application window. Criminals directly target victims and can be very convincing, often using information that is publicly available.

With some grants worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, in past years fraudsters have stolen significant amounts of money.

Be wary of:

• Any calls, texts or emails purporting to be from RPID, your bank, the police, or other organisation asking for personal or financial details.
• Cold callers who suggest you hang up the phone and call them back. Fraudsters can keep your phone line open by not putting down the receiver at their end.
• Any request to check the number showing on your telephone display matches an organisation’s registered telephone number. The display cannot be trusted, as the number showing can be altered by the caller.

In addition to this, Police Scotland’s online booklet - "A Guide to Security in the Rural Environment"- provides advice on crime prevention for rural and farming communities. It has been recently updated with information on cyber-crime prevention. You can read the publication here.