What to do if…
you are contacted by a detention facility claiming someone listed you as their emergency contact

What to do now

1. End the incoming call and take control of verification.
   Say: “I can’t discuss this on an incoming call. I’ll call back through the official switchboard.” Then hang up.

2. Verify the organisation using an official route you locate yourself.

   • If they said police custody or police station, call 101 or use the local police force’s published contact route and ask whether the contact was genuine.
   • If they said prison, use the official prison service pages for the part of the UK named by the caller: GOV.UK for prisons in England and Wales, the Scottish Prison Service for prisons in Scotland, or the Northern Ireland Department of Justice prisons pages.
   • If they said immigration removal centre, use GOV.UK’s immigration removal centre pages to find the centre’s published contact details, then call that number.

3. Ask only for the minimum needed to confirm what is happening.
   Staff may be limited in what they can tell you. Ask:

   • “Has someone there listed this number as an emergency contact?”
   • “What name do you have for them, if you are able to share it?”
   • “What exactly are you asking me to do right now?” If they cannot confirm enough, ask: “Can you pass them a message to contact me through approved channels?”

4. If you do not recognise the person, or you do not want involvement, say so clearly.
   Script: “I don’t know this person, or I can’t act as an emergency contact. Please remove my details and do not share my information with them.”

5. If you are receiving unwanted contact from someone in prison, use the stop-contact route.
   Use the Unwanted Prisoner Contact Service if contact from a prisoner feels unwanted, harassing, coercive, or unsafe.

6. If the call seems genuine and you are worried about immediate welfare, keep it to a welfare concern.
   Call the published switchboard for the prison or detention centre and say: “This is an urgent welfare concern about an individual.” Ask for the duty governor, safer custody team, welfare contact, or the equivalent contact for that setting.

7. If the call involved money, secrecy, threats, or pressure to stay on the phone, treat it as a scam.

   • Stop engaging.
   • Report it through Report Fraud if the service applies where you are; if it directs you to 101, use 101.
   • If you shared bank details or sent money, contact your bank immediately using the number on your card or in your banking app.

8. If it is real and it is someone you know, keep your role small and practical at first.
   Ask what specific immediate action is needed, such as confirming a medical allergy, receiving a message, or arranging a scheduled property drop-off through the official process. If the detained person needs legal advice, they can ask for a solicitor; you do not need to fix that during the first call.