A woman in her 70s has been scammed out of £13,000 after a cold caller pretended to be a police officer this week.
The incident happened in Lynn after the woman received a call during the afternoon of Tuesday, March 21 from a man claiming to be a detective.
The caller asked the victim to withdraw money in order to aid with an investigation and a total of £13,000 was handed over to a courier.
Police are urging the public to be vigilant to colder callers claiming to be police officers following the incident.
Courier fraud happens when a fraudster contacts a victim by telephone claiming to be a police officer, from a bank or a government department, among other agencies.
They will then adopt a number of techniques in order to convince them to hand over their bank details or cash, which may then be passed on to a courier.
Residents are reminded that banks and the police will never ask someone to withdraw money or purchase items.
Officers have provided the following advice:
- Never give out personal information about your bank account to anybody over the phone. Police and banks will never ask you to give out personal details such as account numbers or PIN numbers
- If someone calls claiming to be a police officer, ask for their identification number and police force. Hang up and call 101 using a different phone. If you can’t use a different phone, wait at least five minutes before calling back. A genuine police officer will not mind waiting while you check
- Fraudsters will keep the line open and have been known to play ringtones, hold music and a recorded message down the phone so the victim believes they are making a call to a legitimate number. Ensure you can hear a dialling tone before calling police or use a friend or neighbour’s telephone instead
- If you have given out information which could compromise your bank account security in any way, call your bank to cancel your cards as soon as possible
- Never hand over money to someone at the door to be sent off elsewhere
For further advice, head to the Action Fraud website: www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040.
If anyone has received a similar type of telephone call or has any information about these incidents, please contact Norfolk Police on 101 quoting ‘Operation Radium’.
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
