A caller pretended to be a member of the police fraud squad and gave specific instructions for the woman in her 80s to hide thousands of pounds under her wheelie bin
A fraudster is wanted after impersonating a police officer, and stealing thousands of pounds from an elderly woman. Claiming to be from the police fraud squad, a man manipulated a woman in her 80s, stealing her savings.
A call from a withheld number claiming to be from a ‘DC Shepherd’ in the police fraud squad encouraged an elderly woman to withdraw cash from her bank account and leave it to be collected. The con-artist claimed on the phone that £250 had been stolen from her bank account and two men were in custody for it.
The caller, who identified himself as a police officer, told the woman that the money stolen involved staff at her bank. Claiming police believed someone at the bank was leaking information and her money was at risk, the caller urged the woman to withdraw cash from her account and leave it in a safe place under her wheelie bin at the front of her home for detectives to collect as part of the investigation.
Keen to help and concerned for her savings, the victim hurried to the bank and withdrew £5000 from one account and a further £3000 from another. Following the caller’s instructions, the elderly woman placed the money in an envelope under her wheelie bin for someone to collect moments later.
A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Constabulary said: “Our cyber and fraud prevention officers have seen an increase in courier fraud scams where people are asked to leave cash in “safe places” to be collected later by investigators, or in some cases, people are asked to send cash and other valuables to addresses elsewhere in the country. “Traditionally, courier fraudsters would send a “courier” to collect cash from victims in person, but this marks a recent change of tack. Officers visited the vulnerable victim at her home to support and safeguard after a worried relative reported the incident. Investigations are ongoing.”
