By Thames Valley Police issues advice after residents are targeted by criminals in courier fraud offences.
Police are today warning of a new wave of ‘courier fraud’ incidents across Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, with over 80 new cases this year alone.
Courier fraud is the name given to incidents where fraudsters contact victims by telephone, purporting to be a representative of a reputable organisation in order to obtain cash, cards or bank details.
Criminals have been posing as representatives of the Police and other reputable organisations and have been conning residents out of thousands of pounds.
Detective Inspector Duncan Wynn, head of the Thames Valley Police Economic Crime Unit, said:
“We are aware that criminals have used stories including an unexpected order on an online account that you may or may not have, or that your bank card has been found on suspect in police custody and that officers want to move your money into a safe account. Courier fraud is not a new crime type and we haven’t seen an increase during lockdown but we are still seeing our residents targeted regularly.”
Law firm, Kingsly Napley notes, that in courier fraud, the fraudsters usually ‘contact people by phone, often targeting the elderly, pretending to be a police officer or from the victim’s bank or another law enforcement authority.’
‘They offer easily obtainable snippets of personal information about the victim to gain their trust. They then trick the victim into handing over their PIN and agreeing to hand over their debit or credit card to a ‘courier’. A fraudster will then show up at the victim’s house pretending to be the courier sent by the bank or police.’
They also provide the following information to assist in identifying and avoiding fraudsters.
- Don’t assume a phone call is authentic just because someone knows your name and address or other publicly available information.
- Be suspicious of out of the blue phone calls supposedly from your bank or a law enforcement authority – if something sounds suspicious it probably is and it is always best to err on the side of caution. If in doubt, hang up and contact your bank on the number you have for them using a different phone (as the fraudster may remain on the line after you hang up).
- A bank or the police will never call you to ask you to verify personal details and will never ask you to give or verify your PIN number. They will also never ask for cash or your card and PIN to be handed over to them.
Detective Inspector Duncan Wynn continues:
“Unfortunately, anyone could be targeted by those committing courier fraud but we do tend to see that a larger majority of those targeted are aged over 70-years-old. It is important to be vigilant of any phone calls that you receive out of the blue. The police and other reputable organisations will never ask you to move money to a safe account, ask you to reveal your banking PIN or full password or send anyone to your house to collect cards, cash or jewellery.”
If you think you’ve fallen victim to a scam and make a report to Action Fraud online or by calling 0300 123 2040.
Further information and help can be found on the Action Fraud website, the UK’s national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre.
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