Five lose £63k in courier con
Elderly woman gave £10k-plus of gold to fake cop
AN elderly woman from West Wales has been conned into buying £10,000-plus worth of gold and then handing it over to a man she thought was a police officer.
The victim of what police are calling ‘courier fraud’ was contacted by a fraudster and convinced that she was actually helping officers to prevent fraud.
Since October 2020, Dyfedpowys Police has received complaints of 62 courier fraud calls.
Five people fell victim to fraud, with two handing over gold and three handing over cash.
Their combined losses were £63,000.
AN elderly woman from West Wales has been conned into buying £10,000-plus worth of gold and then handing it over to a man she thought was a police officer.
The victim of what police are calling ‘courier fraud’ was contacted by a fraudster and convinced that she was actually helping officers to prevent fraud.
In a complex con that is often used to target the elderly, victims are contacted by a fake police officer over the phone who tells them that their bank accounts are under threat from fraudsters.
The person on the phone, usually a male, then convinces the victim to take part in a fictitious undercover police operation to not only catch the fraudsters but to safeguard their funds.
They are also told not to tell anyone, not even the staff at their bank.
The fake police officer will also divulge some private financial information, which often encourages the victim that they can be trusted.
Dyfed-powys Police is now warning the public about ‘courier fraud’ and has explained that the con happens in three stages:
First phase: To influence the victim, the suspect asks about his/her bank account balances and overdraft facilities. The victim is then instructed to withdraw a small amount of cash (depending on the victim’s bank balance) and told to hand over the cash to a courier who must confirm a password/pin number provided by the suspect. The victim is later called on the phone and told most of the cash was identified as counterfeit.
Second phase: Once the victim trusts and believes the suspects’ instructions, he/she is provided with several bank account numbers (mule accounts), before being instructed to move a large amount of their money (often £100,000 to £300,000) into what is purported to be “safe” accounts, which are actually the mule accounts. Often the holders of the beneficiary accounts are third parties who are unaware of the sources of the credit in their account. The money is quickly dissipated from the beneficiary accounts into accounts outside UK jurisdiction. Monies in the beneficiary account may simply be withdrawn from any UK ATM.
Third phase: Victims are instructed to either buy gold bars or highvalue watches. Again these items are handed to a courier who confirms a password given to the victim over the phone by the suspect.
The elderly woman who was conned last week into believing that she was working for the police, which led to her handing thousands of pounds worth of gold to scammers, is not the only recent victim of this type of fraud in West Wales.
Since October, 2020, Dyfed-powys Police has received complaints of 62 courier fraud calls. Of these, 52 people realised that what they were being told was part of a scam, while five were intrigued until their banks intervened.
Five others, however, fell victim to fraud, with two handing over gold and three handing over cash.
Their combined losses were £63,000.
DC Gareth Jordan, from Dyfed-powys Police’s cybercrime team, said: “The fake police officer tells them about fraudulent activity on the person’s bank card, or tells them that they need to transfer money to another account due to suspicious activity.
“It is the prelude to courier fraud, where someone comes to pick up the bank card, after extracting all the details such as PIN from the victim, or getting the person to go to the bank to withdraw money that can then be collected or sometimes transferred into other accounts.
“We are working to make bank staff to look for the tell-tale signs of this, and contacting their branch managers to ensure staff are aware.
“We are asking PCSOS to visit banks that are open on their patch and ask bank staff to inform any customers withdrawing money or transferring money about this scam.
“This scam is often aimed at the older generation, who have a respect for the police and may fall for the story that much more readily.
“The suspects invest a considerable amount of time and effort in building a rapport with the victims, who are coached with a cover story for bank staff, if their transactions (unusual) are flagged by the bank’s safety measures.
“What is worrying is that it can be just the start of further fraudulent activity including phoning the victim up stating they are the bank and getting the victim to transfer money to another account in the deceitful belief that their own account is now at risk due to fraudulent bank card use. The third part is investment fraud and gold purchases.”
■ Dyfed-powys Police is imploring anyone who thinks they have been targeted, or who knows someone who may have been targeted, to report the incident to them by calling 101.