Warning after fraudsters impersonate Police officers to steal cash near Peterborough

The scam happened over the course of several days starting last month (June 28), and involved fraudsters making direct contact and claiming to be police officers who had become aware of a scam against their bank accounts, and included a “courier” service which arrived at the property to collect the funds as “police property” as part of an “ongoing investigation”.

The incident happened in Spalding and Police are keen to hear from anyone who may have been in the Ladywood Road in Spalding at around 7.45pm on Monday June 28 and may have seen a black man in his 20s with curly hair, dark clothing and a British accent driving a white van. There may also have been a second man that stayed either inside or near to the van.

Detective Inspector Gail Hurley said: “It might be surprising that many people believe it is credible that the police would request them to move money to a “safe” account, or perhaps ask for them to share pain number, but people do fall for this scam because of those exploiting the trust that they have in police officers.

“This would never happen. We would never ask you to hand over money or financial information in any circumstance and we would always provide you with an incident number or crime reference number if there is a case we are investigating, which you can use to confirm the details of those investigating a case rather than just an officer’s name – this can be done by calling 101 and quoting the number given.

“This type of fraud is a despicable way to prey on vulnerable people, and we’d urge people to learn as much as they can about the tricks that scammers use.

“If you get a knock at the door, or a call from someone who appears to be official, ask yourself whether you were expecting them.

“If not, then check it out by calling the company or they say they are from using a telephone number you have verified yourself. If the person knocking on your door is genuine then they will wait for you to check them out.

“Remember, you can do all of this without opening your door at all.”

Cambridgeshire Police have reported similar incidents happening in the county, with the fraudsters mostly looking to target older and more vulnerable residents.

They are advising people to “Take Five”. Take Five is a national awareness campaign which urges you to stop and consider whether the situation is genuine.

It is led by FFA UK (part of UK Finance) backed by Her Majesty’s Government and delivered with and through a range of partners in the UK payments industry, financial services firms, law enforcement agencies, telecommunication providers, commercial, public and third sector.

Their five-point advice is:

- Never disclose security details

- Don’t assume everyone is genuine

- Don’t be rushed

- Listen to your instincts

- Stay in control

To find out more, visit the Take Five website.

Anyone with information which could help with this incident, has been urged to get in touch with Police by either:

- Emailing [email protected] with reference to incident 278 of the 2nd July in the subject box.

- Calling the non-emergency number 101, quoting incident 278 of the 2nd July

- Going through the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.

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