E-fit released of young women wanted in connection with Todwick fraud

At 9.30am on Tuesday, August 13, an 84-year-old man from Todwick received a call from a man falsely claiming to be a police officer from the Metropolitan Police.

He told the victim he had been involved in a serious fraud and needed to call 999.

However, it is thought he did not hang up the call and instead stayed on the line, fooling the victim into believing he had rung 999.

The victim was told to get a taxi to his bank in Rotherham. The suspect had told the victim bank staff were involved in the ‘investigation’, so he should not disclose anything to them.

The victim withdrew £5,000 from his account and a young woman later attended his address to collect the money.

The following day, the victim received another phone call asking him to withdraw more money. This time the bank staff questioned the victim and he explained what had happened.

Do you recognise the woman in this e-fit? If you think you might know who she is, or if you have any information about the incident which may help our investigation, please call 101 quoting incident number 696 of 14 August 2019.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said: "To protect yourself from becoming a victim of this type of fraud, follow these simple tips:

"Don't reveal personal details. Never give out personal or financial information over the phone, even if the caller claims to be from your bank.

"Hang up. If you feel harassed or intimidated end the call. You have the right not to be pressurised into anything.

"Ring the organisation. If you're unsure whether the caller is genuine, hang up and ring the company or bank they claim to be from. Make sure you find the number yourself and don’t use the one provided by the caller or allow them to transfer you.

"Don't be rushed. Scammers will try to rush you into providing your personal details. They may say they have time-limited offer or claim your bank account is at risk if you don't give them the information they need right away."