Lincolnshire Police are receiving a sharp increase in the reporting of a fraud, whereby victims receive calls from a male pretending to be a Police Officer who asks them to draw cash from their bank account.
In many recent examples the fraudster / caller pretends to be “DC SMITH from Hammersmith Fraud Squad”. This person is currently targeting elderly and vulnerable people within Lincolnshire. The male will try to convince the victim that their bank details have been compromised and that there is a suspect working in their local bank. The victim is told to remove an amount of money; this money will then be collected from their home address by a courier.
The fraudsters keep the telephone lines open through the entire call to the victim, meaning that if the victim attempts to call another number they will still be connected to the fraudsters.
Indeed, the fraudsters often encourage the victim to call 101 and ask for the police in order to verify who they are – but in fact the victim is unknowingly still talking to the same offenders.
The fraudsters will nearly always tell the victim not to tell anyone at the bank when they go to withdraw cash.
Variations of this fraud include the caller / fraudster claiming to be from HMRC and telling the victim they owe a tax bill, and another involves the caller / fraudster telling the victim they are court bailiffs collecting a debt.
Please spread this message far and wide to stop our elderly and vulnerable residents becoming a victim. Thank you.
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