Warning after bank transfer scammers target Cheltenham residents

Officers are asking people to be vigilant after people in Cheltenham were scammed out of hundreds of pounds in recent days.

Police were contacted with three reports that people had been approached by a group of men who asked about getting help to transfer money and withdraw cash.

The fraudsters claimed their cards would not work, and asked if the member of the public would accept a bank transfer into their account, and then withdraw it out as cash to hand back over to the scammers.

In one incident a group of four men approached the victim while at The Brewery at around 8.30pm on Wednesday and asked if £200 could be transferred over to allow them to pay for a meal as their cards were not working. 

In another incident two men entered a shop on Hester's Way Road yesterday morning (Thursday) and asked an employee if they could transfer and withdraw £210 so they could buy petrol and visit a sick relative in hospital.

In the third incident the victim was approached by two men at Tesco petrol station and said their card was not working at the ATM and that they needed to pay £50 for a journey to Scotland.

In all of the incidents the victims handed over the cash, totalling hundreds of pounds, and they later realised the bank transfer had never arrived. 

In two of the incidents the victims were shown an Irish driving licence and fake transaction message in order to gain their trust.

Police are asking people to be wary if they are approached by unknown members of the public who ask to withdraw cash for them, as this is more than likely a scam. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Information on protecting yourself from becoming a victim of fraud can be found here: https://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/fa/fraud/personal-fraud/prevent-personal-fraud/

Fraud cases can be reported to Action Fraud online by visiting https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime

Victims of fraud looking for help can find more information on Victim Support's website: https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/crime-info/types-crime/fraud/

The bogus transaction image shown to the victims