Fraudsters pretending to be police targeting elderly and vulnerable in landline scam
Fraudsters pretending to be officers have been targeting the elderly and vulnerable by calling their home landline, police have warned.
Staffordshire Police has received a number of reports over the past few weeks, with some callers even giving a name, collar number and reference number.
The fraudsters then try to convince residents a person has been arrested for stealing money or a cloning a card belonging to the them. Victims will then be asked to contact their bank, withdraw a large sum of money and arrange for a courier to pick it up. The criminals will sometimes telephone the victim several times a day, with some calls lasting several hours. Some even prep the victims with what to say should the banks ever ask why they are withdrawing large amounts of cash.
Detective Constable Sally Dean, from CID South, said the scams were extremely convincing and manipulative.
She said: “The fraudsters will give fake information and will always claim the transaction must be done in secret.
“The fraudsters condition their victim not to trust bank branch staff, which can make it hard for those staff to help. These calls are not genuine and payments should not be made and no legitimate bank/building society, police officer, or business will ever phone you to ask you to give them your card, your PIN, or your cash in the way we’ve described.
“We are asking for help from the public to spread this message throughout the wider community and urge you to pass it on, particularly to elderly relatives or neighbours.
“Please remember the police will never contact you asking for your bank card or cash. If someone does, it’s a scam – provide no details and hand nothing over. Hang up and report it immediately.”
Action Fraud can be contacted on actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 1232040 or contact the police on 101.
