Elderly Shropshire woman could have lost thousands in scam by fake policemen

West Mercia Police is warning people to be on their guard against criminals after the attempted courier fraud this week.

The woman, who is in her 80s, was contacted by a man who claimed to be a Met Police officer, saying there had been suspicious activity on her bank accounts.

He convinced her that her bank card had been used fraudulently in South Africa and she needed to transfer a large amount of money from her savings to an account he provided to check whether it had been cloned.

The fraudster then told her to call 101 to confirm the details to police, except it is believed he stayed on the line so when she picked it up again thinking she had dialled police, she instead spoke to another man pretending to be an officer.

Fortunately, before she transferred any money, her suspicions were raised enough for her to call her bank using the number provided on their website. She was told it could be fraudulent activity and not to transfer any money.

The woman then quickly contacted police and enquiries are now being carried out.

Detective Inspector Matthew Keeble said: “This type of courier fraud can seem convincing but no police officer from any force will ever ask you to withdraw or transfer money or ask for your bank details, and they would never ask that you make a high value purchase.

“If anyone does ask you to do any of those actions, it will be a scam. If that is the case we ask that you put the phone down and call the police or your bank from another landline or mobile to check, not the one you were called on.”

Incidents like these are being tackled as part of Operation Prospero, which directly targets offenders posing as police officers, working in conjunction with Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cyber-crime reporting centre.

For more information about door-to-door and courier fraud, visit westmercia.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/fa/fraud/personal-fraud/door-to-door-courier-fraud/