Notts: Fraudsters scam thousands of pounds from elderly residents

Fraudsters are stealing thousands of pounds for vulnerable elderly residents in Notts.
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The disturbing scam which saw 17 people fall victim to thieves last summer has re-emerged in the county.

It is being carried out by organised crime gangs up and down the country who are estimated to have duped people into handing over around £12 million since 2011.

The tactics used involve someone calls the victim claiming to be from their bank’s fraud team, however, they do not state the name of the bank

They convince the victim that they could help the fraud team root out a corrupt bank cashier by withdrawing a large amount of cash – often thousands of pounds at a time – from the bank.

The caller warns the victim not to tell anyone at the branch they make the withdrawal from as this will ruin the investigation.

When the money has been withdrawn the victim is told to meet with a courier either at their home address or another location. The victim is told the courier will then take the money to the police or other body to have it examined as potentially being counterfeit – this does not happen.

The slightly altered tactics used last year are still in use.

The victim is called from someone saying they are a member of the fraud team from the victim’s bank, a police officer or a shop owner who says that the victim’s bank card has been discovered being used by a detained criminal.

The suspect then asks the victim to hang up and call their bank, however, the suspect does not hang up the phone and leaves the line open.

The victim dials the number for the bank but the suspect has remained on the other end of the phone and takes the call, convincing them that they are the bank’s fraud team.

The victim is then asked to input their PIN number into the phone keypad which is captured by the suspect who is using a decoder which converts the keytones into the respective numbers.

The suspect then says that the card has been compromised and will need examining immediately. A local taxi firm or one of the suspects is despatched to the victim’s address where they collect the card and deliver it to the suspect’s where it is used.

The average loss to a victim is £4,000.

Police Constable Chris Dover said: “This is a highly lucrative scam for these gangs. They are preying on vulnerable members of our communities and without conscience are stealing their money.”

“By raising awareness of these gangs and their activities we want to frustrate their attempts to commit further crime and protect our vulnerable friends and neighbours.”

“I would encourage families to discuss it, taxi firms to be extra vigilant and equally so with bank staff.”

“If there is a suspicion that this type of offence is underway please contact the police on 999.”

If you think you are a victim of this scam but a supposed courier has not attended, dial 999 to help us quickly apprehend the offenders. If you have any information about these scams contact police on 101.