Fraudsters targeting people with fake police officer scam calls

People are being warned to be on their guard after fraudsters claiming to be police officers have been targeting Staffordshire residents.

A woman fell victim to a scam last week after receiving phone calls from two different men, who were claiming to be police officers from the Metropolitan Police. They told her that her bank account had been compromised and that she needed to transfer £20,000 to them in order to help them catch the fraudsters.

They gave her false names and collar numbers, and told her she could call 999 to verify them. Unknown to her, they remained on the line during this call, and so falsely confirmed the details she gave.

The woman then headed to a building society in order to transfer money from her savings account to her current account. The fraudsters told her to lie and say that she was transferring the money in order to help her nephew buy a house. Following this transaction she visited her bank, where she transferred £20,000 to the scammers.

Afterwards, she called 999 to verify the officers details again, but luckily on this occasion she did speak to a member of staff in our control room who informed her that police officers would never ask her to withdraw or transfer money.

Local officers then visited her home address and explained that she had unfortunately been the victim of a scam. Luckily, the payment had been put on hold, so after liaising with the bank they were able to stop the payment from going through.

Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Lucy Hadfield, from East Staffordshire Local Policing Team said: “Fraudsters like this are extremely manipulative, sound professional and are very convincing in order to gain a victim's trust.

“Secrecy is the key and victims are advised they should not tell anyone about the calls as it may jeopardise the police investigation.”

PCSO Sarah Burton, who also attended, added: “Thankfully, on this occasion we were able to convince the woman that the people she had been speaking to were conmen and contacted the bank just in time to stop the payment from going through

“This is why it is so important that we remind people of the simple steps they can take to avoid being scammed in this way.”

• Neither police nor bank officials will ever ask you to withdraw money from your account, purchase anything or hand over your personal details or passwords.
• If you believe you are being targeted by a scammer hang up the phone and use a different phone line to call Action Fraud or the police, as scammers have a way to stay on the line and will pretend to be the police when you call back.
• If you don’t have access to a different phone line, wait for a period of time and try calling a family member or friend first to make sure the scammer is no longer on the line.
• Just because someone knows basic details about you like your address or date of birth, it doesn’t mean they are genuine bank or police employees.
• Always question suspicious phone calls and report them to Action Fraud or the police.
• If you think you or someone you know has been defrauded, you can report it to Action Fraud online or by calling 0300 123 2040.