Urgent warning as residents fall victim to costly scam along Yorkshire Coast

Since Christmas, there have been reports of ‘courier frauds’, where victims have been called on the telephone by someone claiming to be an officer from the Metropolitan Police in London.

The scam works as victims are informed that someone has attempted to use their card to purchase a laptop or similar and, as a result, their bank accounts are under threat.

Victims are then instructed to attend their bank and withdraw all their money for a police officer to attend their home address - the courier - who then takes their money for “safe keeping”.

The victim may be further convinced the call is genuine as the fraudsters will tell the victim to call 999 to check they are genuine.

However, they do not clear the line so the victim, who thinks they have dialled 999 and are speaking to the police, is still speaking to the fraudsters.

The victim is told to attend the bank and withdraw their money. The victim is told they may be challenged at the bank as to why they are withdrawing their money and they are told what to say, for example paying for building work, buying a car etc.

The fraudster will sometimes even claim the bank is involved in the crime and that there is an undercover police operation in the bank.

The victim is told not to say anything as it will compromise the police operation. They are led to believe that their cooperation is vital to the investigation.

North Yorkshire Police Financial Abuse Safeguarding Officer, Andy Fox, said: “This scam has been claiming victims for far too long and the fraudsters are becoming increasingly manipulative in their tactics.

“They will tell victims that there is an undercover police operation and that they must not say anything to the bank so they’re told to lie.

“They withdraw their money, often tens of thousands of pounds, and the fraudster posing as a police officer will then attend their home to collect the money.

“If you receive a call like this, don’t even think about it, just hang up. Remember, the police will NEVER ask you to withdraw or transfer cash to assist in a police investigation.

“We need to stop people falling victim to this awful scam so please tell as many people as possible about it and be extremely vigilant.”