Residents in Gedling borough are being warned after two elderly people in Notts fell victim to a malicious scam where a cold-caller disguised as a police officer told them to withdraw money from their bank – which then led to them losing thousands of pounds to the fraudsters.
Nottinghamshire Police said the two elderly victims lost more than £15,000 in total.
Police said a man in his 80s handed over £11,300 to fraudsters, and a lady lost £4,500 after a man purported to be a Cambridgeshire police officer asking her to withdraw cash.
The elderly male victim received a call on February 3 from the fraudster who said he was working for the Cambridgeshire force. They requested him to withdraw £11,300 from his bank, and the victim co-operated with their request and later handed over the cash to a courier.
Just a day before, the female victim lost thousands after being told that fake money had been transferred into her account. The woman attended her bank and a courier later collected the package from her home address.
In both incident the fraudster used the same police officer’s name and same phrasing, to convince the both victims to hand over money. The female victim was also told it was a ‘secret investigation’.
Recent reports have also seen a rise in fraudsters using spoofed genuine Nottinghamshire Police telephone numbers to make contact with their victims.
Detective Sergeant Anna Haynes said: “If you receive such a call you should not give out any personal information and hang up immediately. If you are ever unsure whether the person speaking to you is a genuine police officer please contact Nottinghamshire Police on 101 and ask to speak with that officer, any police officer would not be offended by you wishing to verify their identity.
“We stress that no police officers will ever call you out of the blue asking for personal information, including bank account details.
“A police officer would never ask you to withdraw money or purchase high value items such as gold or watches as part of an investigation.
“We are urging people to share this amongst friends and family. Not everyone has access to the internet, so people do tell neighbours and relatives about these types of scams.
“If you receive a phone call like this please report it to the police immediately and inform Action Fraud.”
What is courier fraud?
If you receive a text, email or call claiming to be from or contacting you on behalf of the a police force and is asking you to either click on a link or to give information such as your name, credit card or bank details, it’s a scam.
During the incidents the victims have received a call from someone claiming to be a police officer who’s investigating counterfeit currency or fraudulent use of the victim’s bank card.
The caller tells them not to talk to anyone else about the call as it may jeopardise the police investigation.
They then try to persuade the victim to withdraw a large sum of money and purchase gold online or to visit a named jewelers.
A courier is then sent to the victim’s home address to collect the gold and money.
Reports claim to put the victim through to a different department and then advised if they paid the owed money now then they won’t be arrested.
The call can appears local using 0115 numbers, but these are spoofed numbers used to make the call look authentic.
You can report fraud online via the Action Fraud website https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ or on 0300 123 2040.
