A WARNING for scams has been issued in Worcestershire after two residents, one of whom unwittingly handed over their bank cards, were contacted by fraudsters.
On Tuesday (January 9), a woman in her 70s was contacted by a man pretending to be a police constable from West Midlands Police who claimed her bank card had been used earlier that day for a fraudulent transaction.
The conman then told her an investigation would be conducted, and he would cancel her cards but to do this she had to hand her bank cards over.
The suspect sounded convincing as he mentioned her address and basic details about her bank accounts.
He told her to place her cards in an envelope outside their home under a door mat which was collected between 9pm and 9.30pm.
Afterwards, at 9.49pm, two transactions were made from her accounts which she had not actioned.
The same evening, at around 8.15pm, a man was contacted by a ‘well-spoken’ man also claiming to be from West Midlands Police.
The man became suspicious and hung up on the caller before contacting West Mercia Police to report the incident.
Police Constable Chris Evans, community safety engagement officer for North Worcestershire, said:
“These types of courier fraud can seem convincing but no police officer from any force will ever ask you to make a payment or purchase, withdraw or transfer money or ask for your bank details.
“If anyone does it will be a scam. 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.
West Mercia Police have urged anyone with information regarding the two incidents to contact PC Thomas Palfreyman at [email protected] to report it.
Visit www.westmercia.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/ to report online.
