A Broxtowe resident in her 70s lost more than £35,000 after handing over her bank cards.
A Kirkby-in-Ashfield victim, a woman in her 40s, had her cards used across Nottingham and Birmingham, while a third person noticed two iPhones had been purchased with a bank card she was tricked into handing over on her doorstep at her home near Bingham.
Explaining how the Broxtowe victim was tricked, Lucy Kennedy, of Nottinghamshire Police’s fraud Protect team, said: “The lady received a call from a man purporting to be a police officer, who said her husband’s identity had been stolen.
“He told her all her husband’s cards had been cloned and that the fraud squad had a machine that could check if they have been ‘skimmed’.
“To make these checks, the lady was told a police officer who come to her address and collect the cards.
“The lady was concerned and approached neighbours, but the man was still on the phone and said ‘You must not tell anyone, you are compromising the case’.
“She was then told the police officer was stuck in traffic on the motorway and that an Uber driver had been sent to collect the cards instead.
“She was told to give the code ‘Dhillon’ to the driver and the cards were then handed over.
“When she checked her accounts later, approximately £35,000 was missing.”
Courier scams are on the rise across the country but simply being aware of them can mitigate the risk of becoming a victim.
Lucy, who works closely with other Protect colleagues and external partners in cascading and communicating fraud prevention advice, said: “Courier fraud can take various forms, but it mostly occurs when a fraudster contacts victims by telephone purporting to be a police officer or bank official. To substantiate this claim, the caller might be able to confirm some easily obtainable basic details about the victim such as their full name and address.
“The caller may also offer a telephone number for the victim to telephone or ask the victim to call the number on the back of their bank card to check that they are genuine. In these circumstances, either the number offered will not be genuine or, where a genuine number is suggested, the fraudster will stay on the line and pass the victim to a different individual.
“These individuals are very convincing and have various different tactics to gain your trust.”
