Bogus police officers target Bishop’s Stortford residents in bank scam

Fraudsters posing as police officers have been targeting Bishop’s Stortford residents.

Across Hertfordshire during the last week of May, the scammers conned £12,00 in total from six victims by persuading them to hand over bank cards or money.

Residents were targeted in Bishop’s Stortford, Letchworth, Rickmansworth, Kings Langley and Radlett.

One Letchworth resident lost £8,000 and another resident from Rickmansworth lost £4,000.

Five of the victims were contacted by people claiming to be police officers, and another by someone posing as a fraud investigator from HSBC.

Detective Inspector Pete Hankins, from the Serious Fraud and Cyber Unit, said: “The number of courier fraud offences reported has been increasing across the eastern region, with people losing large sums of money. It’s important to remember that police officers or bank officials will never ask you for sensitive information, like a PIN or ask you to purchase high-value items to assist them with an enquiry.

“Usually, the intended victim realises the call is not genuine and refuses to part with their personal and bank details. However, these fraudsters can be very persuasive and insistent, which has resulted in some people falling victim to this scam and subsequently losing thousands of pounds.”

East Herts police officers said, “several Bishop’s Stortford residents have received calls from fraudsters posing as police officers”.

The fraudsters call victims via a mobile or landline number, posing as a police officer or bank official. They claim fraudulent activity has taken place with their bank account.

They are then instructed to put their bank cards and/or money into an envelope and give them to a courier or taxi sent to their home by the offenders.

In some cases, the victim may be asked to buy goods or vouchers. If bank cards are collected, they can be used later by the offenders to withdraw large sums of money.

The offenders may also ask the victim to disclose their bank details, including their account and PINs, to aid the bogus investigation.

Hertfordshire Constabulary advises that if you receive an unexpected call, you should be suspicious.

Crucially, never disclose bank account details or PIN over the phone, never withdraw money or purchase high-value items and send via a courier, taxi or by any other means, and never send your bank cards, or any other personal property, to callers.

The force stressed that police and banks would never make such requests and urged: “If you are not happy with a phone call and are suspicious of the conversation you have with the caller, then please end the call and dial 101 or report online herts.police.uk/report. In an emergency or if a crime is in progress call 999 immediately.”