RESIDENTS are being warned to be on their guard against criminals claiming to be from the police following an attempted courier fraud in Shropshire earlier this week.
A woman in her 80s was contacted by a man claiming to be from the Metropolitan Police saying there had been suspicious activity on her bank accounts.
West Mercia Police detective inspector Matthew Keeble warned people to be not fall into the trap set for them.
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He said: “These types 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 action 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.”
The person convinced the woman 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.
Following the phone calls the woman became suspicious and called her bank using the number provided on their website, where she was told it could be fraudulent activity and to not transfer any money.
The woman then contacted the police and enquiries are not being carried out.
A spokesman added: "Incidents like these are being tackled as part of Operation Prospero, which directly targets offenders posing as police officers, working ion conjunction with Action Fraud, the UK's national fraud and cyber-crime reporting centre."
For more information about door-to-door and other courier fraud visit https://www.westmercia.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/fa/fraud/personal-fraud/door-to-door-courier-fraud/
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