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Dear residents We are appealing for vigilance regarding current courier fraud scams/fraudulent messages/activities that we have seen an increase in your area. Please see below current message from the Economic crime unit - Sgt Mike Rogers who has asked your Local Policing team to raise awareness around Fraud and these scams Signs of courier fraud: Courier fraud usually start with an unsolicited telephone call to the victim.Typically, the fraudster will pose as a Police Officer or Bank Official. They will state that there has been fraudulent activity on the victims bank card or account and that someone has been arrested and an investigation commenced. They’ll request the support of the victim to prevent further amounts being taken from their account.Courier fraudsters will usually request that the victim attends their bank or post office to withdraw cash or ask for their bank card. There have also been instances where victims are asked to purchase high value items such as Rolex watches and gold bullion. They’ll even suggest booking a taxi to transport the victim from their home address to the bank or post office.Fraudsters will instruct victims not to tell any family, friends or neighbours about what they are doing. They’ll also advise victims not to trust anyone in the bank or post office who may question the request to withdraw the cash, as they are suspects in an investigation and cannot be trusted. They will give examples of the types of questions that will be asked and give the answers to respond with e.g. “it’s for my grandson for a car or it’s for a roof repair and the builder wants cash in hand”.During the phone call, the fraudster will suggest that the victim could hang up the phone to ring their bank for confirmation, however the fraudster keeps the phone line open and doesn’t end the call. The fraudster will then involve another person to take over the telephone conversation so it appears that the victim has been put through to someone else. This person then confirms the call is genuine. Sometimes the fraudsters will tell the victim they will transfer them through to 999 so that they can verify their identity, again by not ending the call, it allows for another suspect to speak to the victim to continue with the scam.The fraudster will then send a courier to the victims home address to collect either the money or card or they will arrange to meet them near the bank or post office. Genuine organisations will:- NEVER Ask you to withdraw funds to help an investigation NEVER Tell you to transfer money to a “safe” account NEVER Ask you to reveal your password NEVER Need you banking PIN or account access code NEVER Ask for the one time code you may have been sent via text message or email NEVER Need your payment details to issue a refund NEVER Claim you have computer, phone or internet issues NEVER Request that you purchase digital gift vouchers NEVER Tell you to pay a bill or fine via bank transfer NEVER Tell you to buy cryptocurrency like Bitcoin Thanks, | 
