Quickly exit this site by pressing the Escape key Leave this site
This site is a beta, which means it's a work in progress and we'll be adding more to it over the next few weeks. Your feedback helps us make things better, so please let us know what you think.
14:51 03/12/2020
Fraudsters claiming to be police officers have been targeting people across the country in a spate of incidents over the past few days.
One victim has already been conned out of thousands of pounds with at least seven other attempts in Cheltenham and the Forest of Dean over the last 24 hours.
Gloucestershire Constabulary is now warning people to be vigilant and to make their elderly relatives aware of this type of crime to prevent more people becoming victims.
The scam involves victims being called on a landline by a person claiming to be a police officer, asking them to help with an ongoing investigation which is fictitious.
They are asked to withdraw money from a bank and to then read the serial numbers on the cash. The fraudster informs them that the notes are counterfeit and need to be destroyed, with a “courier” being sent to collect the money.
The victims are told not to inform anybody as they could risk arrest themselves. The fraudsters are convincing and very manipulative.
In one incident yesterday (Wednesday 2 December), the victim handed over £5,000 to the phoney courier who was described as being white, 5ft 8ins tall and speaking with a slight accent, possibly Eastern European. He was wearing tight black jeans and a hi-vis jacket.
The police will never ask you to provide bank card details, withdraw or move sums of money, or purchase items to be collected. Anyone who believes that they have been the victim of a fraudulent phone call can report this by calling police on 101 or Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
Anyone with information about these incidents should quote incident 107 of 3 December when speaking to Gloucestershire Constabulary. You can also submit information online by completing the update a crime report form on the Force's website: https://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/
More advice to help stop you from becoming a victim of fraud is below: