Fraudsters rake in £63k in cash and gold from Dyfed-Powys victims

Dyfed Powys Police said in the latest incident an elderly woman was tricked into buying more than £10,000 of gold and handing it over to scammers when she fell victim to courier fraud.

Since October the force which covers Mid Wales has received complaints of 62 courier fraud calls. Of those 52 of the potential victims realised it was fraud, with a further five transactions prevented when the bank intervened.

Dc Gareth Jordan, of the force's cybercrime team, said the recent crimes had seen victims phoned up by someone purporting to be a police officer from Paddington Police Station.

“The fake police officer tells them about fraudulent activity on the person's bank card, or tells them that they need to transfer money to another account due to suspicious activity.

“It is the prelude to courier fraud, where someone comes to pick up the bank card, after extracting all the details such as PIN from the victim, or getting the person to go to the bank to withdraw money that can then be collected or sometimes transferred into other accounts.”

The force said five people fell victim to the criminals with two handing over gold while three gave cash totalling £63,000.

DC Jordan said: “We are working to make bank staff to look for the tell-tale signs of this, and contacting their branch managers to ensure staff are aware.

“We are asking PCSOs to visit banks that are open on their patch and ask bank staff to inform any customers withdrawing money or transferring money about this scam.

“This scam is often aimed at the older generation, who have a respect for the police and may fall for the story that much more readily.

“What is worrying is that it can be just the start of further fraudulent activity including phoning the victim up stating they are the bank and getting the victim to transfer money to another account in the deceitful belief that their own account is now at risk due to fraudulent bank card use. The third part is investment fraud and gold purchases.”

Residents are being targeted by usually a male who phones the victim pretending to be a police officer. The bogus police officer then explains that the victim’s bank accounts are under threat.

He convinces the victim to participate in a fictitious undercover police operation to catch the fraudsters.

They are also told not to inform anyone, including their bank, as bank staff are equally under suspicion. Often the bogus police officer discloses private financial information which is used to encourage the victim to trust them.

Anyone targeted by scammers should contact the force by emailing 101@dyfed-powys.pnn.police.uk or phone 101.