Don’t fall for courier fraud
aThis was a cry from the heart.
“Help me after an incredibly frustrating few days,” tweeted Supt Alun Morgan of South Wales Police.
“If you do one thing tonight, tell someone of senior years you care for, or live near, to NEVER agree to withdraw money from a bank for the police to look after.”
He was responding to a spate of so-called courier frauds in the area – more than a dozen in Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan in one week, plus three more in Cardiff.
This is how it works. Callers posing as police officers persuade people that their bank account has been compromised and they must withdraw cash and hand it to a supposed police courier who’ll take it away for safekeeping.
The bogus officers sometimes threaten arrest if victims don’t comply. While most of those targeted are elderly, officers stress that anyone could potentially fall for this sophisticated and wellrehearsed scam.
“I am appalled by this type of criminality. It is upsetting even to the most hardened detective,” said Supt Morgan, adding that “a number of positive lines of enquiry are already under way”.
He urged: “It is very important to raise awareness of this deception and it’s vital that we reach out with your help to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.” South Wales Police recently released a video of retired teacher Margaret Turner, 95, who’d lost £20,000 to what she called the “ghastly” fraud.
“My message to other people who receive a call of this nature is to tell the police at once,” she said.
“Don’t give the fraudsters anything.”