Residents warned after increase in reports of fraudsters pretending to be police officers

West Mercia Police PCSO in Shrewsbury, Joseph Bradley posted on the force's Neighbourhood Matters page today, saying the force has seen an increase in the number of reports of fraudsters who are claiming to be from various police services around the country. 

The post said criminals are pretending to be police officers in an attempt to defraud people and scam them into handing over or transferring money, or sharing PIN information. 

The police officer reminded residents that police will never contact anyone asking for their PIN or bank details, ask to withdraw cash to hand it over to them for safe-keeping, ask residents to transfer money out of their account for fraud reasons or send someone to a person's property to collect cash, PINs or cards.

The post said: "This crime, known as 'Courier Fraud', has seen elderly and vulnerable people targeted. However, anyone can be a victim to this crime.

"We urge you to share this information about bogus callers on to relatives, friends and neighbours who may also be at risk to the scams.

"We would also like to reassure our communities that we are investigating these crimes and want to hear from anyone who has been contacted in this way. 

"If the crime is still in progress, because for example, you have recently provided bank details or handed over cards or cash or are going to visit your bank or the caller has arranged for someone to visit your address to collect items, you should call the police on 999."