£13,000 taken by fraudsters from OAPS in under one month

» ‘MANIPULATIVE’ courier fraudsters have stolen £13,000 from elderly people in less than one month across Gloucestershire.

Officers have now urged everyone to be vigilant against these ‘convincing’ criminals who attempt to ‘panic and frighten’ their victims into handing over money.

Gloucestershire Police confirmed there have been at least 14 reports of courier fraud across the county since the beginning of the month, where victims have lost a total of £13,000.

Throughout 2020 so far, there’s been a loss of £127,100 to fraud in the county, where the average victim is 80 years old.

The most common scam involves victims being called by a person claiming to be an officer, asking them to help with an ongoing investigation - which is fictitious.

Often victims are asked to take money out of their account and give it to a courier.

On Tuesday, December 8, a man in Cheltenham was preparing to hand over £30,000 to a fraudster before authorities stepped in.

A week before, scammers stole £7,000 from a man in Chepstow after telling him they were investigating a bank fraud.

In an incident on Wednesday, December 2, a victim in the Forest of Dean handed over £5,000 to a phoney courier.

Victims are usually asked to withdraw money from a bank, because the fraudster informs them that their notes are counterfeit, or their account is somehow involved with money laundering.

A courier is then sent to collect the cash.

Cruelly, the victims are told not to inform anybody as the made-up investigation is covert, or that they could risk arrest themselves.

During the month of November there was at least 224 reports of fraud made to the force.

If you believe you are being targeted by a scammer hang up the phone and use a different phone line to call Action Fraud or the police.

Scammers have a way to stay on the line and will pretend to be the police when you call back.

If you don’t have access to a different phone line, wait for a period of time and try calling a family member or friend first to make sure the scammer is no longer on the line.

Always question suspicious phone calls and report them to Action Fraud or the police. Always have a pad and pen next to the phone, if you get a suspicious call, take details, don’t get flustered, get names addresses and contact numbers. Then, disconnect the call. Walk away from the phone for at least five minutes and then contact Gloucestershire Constabulary to verify the details of the call. If police from any other force area contact you, ask them to contact Gloucestershire Constabulary who will then communicate with you if they need to.