Police are warning Gloucestershire residents to be on their guard after a series of incidents of fraudsters claiming to be police officers.
Reports come from around the county, including the Forest of Dean, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and Stroud. Six incidents took place in Stroud on 15th January; fortunately the victims did not reveal any personal information to the fraudsters.
The scammers call their victims pretending to be a police officer, asking for help with an ongoing investigation which is fake. They have then been asked to withdraw money from a bank and to then read the serial numbers on the cash. The fraudster informs them that the notes are counterfeit and need to be destroyed, with a “courier” being sent to collect the money.
To prevent further incidents, watch the informative video below to see how you can spot a scammer.
The police have released a statement saying “(we) will never ask you to provide bank card details, withdraw sums of money, or purchase items to be collected.”
They also encourage anyone who believes that they have been the victim of a fraudulent phone call to report this by calling police on 101 or report a crime on their website.
