Elderly Spalding residents duped into handing over cash by criminals impersonating police officers

Criminals impersonating police officers have been targeting vulnerable people in the Spalding area.

In three instances on Tuesday, police say money was handed over by the elderly victims.

Incident 72 of January 26 saw an elderly male receive a call from an individual purporting to be a police sergeant from Manchester Police. The fraudster claimed that they had arrested a man known to the victim who was in possession of a large sum of money and that counterfeit notes had been identified within them too.

The fraudsters advised the victim to withdraw a large sum of money so they could assess whether or not it was counterfeit and was told not to discuss this with his bank.

The victim received another call later in the day asking him to provide the serial numbers from the notes and advised him to package the money, which would be collected by an officer.

Some time between 4pm and 5pm, a male attended the victim’s property and collected the cash. He was described as 5ft 7ins tall, of slim build, aged around 30 years old with a white complexion. He was wearing a black tracksuit bottoms, a woolly hat and a face mask.

Incident 292 is in relation to a man in his 80s being contacted via telephone by someone claiming to be an officer from Leicestershire Police. The fraudster said they had arrested a man with a quantity of cash they believed to belong to the victim. He was advised to withdraw money from his account and was told to leave the phone on the hook and not to disclose their conversation with anyone.

After obtaining a portion of the money, the victim received another call advising him to travel to a different area. A taxi was called for the victim, which took him to a different branch so he could withdraw more money.

In incident 339, two elderly victims were contacted by an individual alleging to be a police sergeant from Leicestershire Police. They were advised that their bank account had been compromised and that they needed to withdraw cash to assist officers in their investigation against their bank.

The fraudster advised the victims that they also needed to withdraw money from a different branch and provided a number for a taxi firm. The victims were also advised that a courier would be arranged to collect the counterfeit cash.

Later in the day, a male attended the property to collect the money from the victims. He was described as tall with darker skin, wearing white trainers and a red jumper.

A spokesman said: "We’d like to issue another reminder to members of the public to please stay vigilant and to share this information with your friends and families, particularly elderly relatives who may not have immediate access to social media.

"If you have any information that can assist our officers, please contact us. Remember, your bank and our officers will never ask for your bank details. They will also never ask you to withdraw cash for them and to send it via a courier.

"If you think you may have been a victim of fraud, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud by calling 0300 1232040 or online."