Grantham residents targeted by courier fraudsters claiming to be police officers

By The Editor 26th Aug 2021

Lincolnshire Police is repeating warning about 'courier fraud' following two attempts in the Grantham area yesterday.

This afternoon, the force warned people to be aware of the scam, which features people claiming to be police officers.

A statement issued this afternoon said at around 2:15pm, a woman in her 60s from the Great Gonerby area was contacted by a scammer posing as Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Phillip Hunt.

He informed her that her nephew was in custody and was in possession of a number of cards and that one of them belonged to her. The victim was told to contact her bank to cancel her card and was advised to go to Grantham Police Station at 5:15pm.

Thankfully the victim ignored this request and no money or personal information was given to the fraudsters.

At 4pm, a woman in her 70s from the Gonerby Hill Foot area received a phone call from a fraudster purporting to be DCI Hunter from Hammersmith Station.

The fraudster informed her that someone in custody had the victim's cloned cards and that she needed to go on hold so she could be put through a secure line. The victim ended the call and no personal information or money was lost.

Grantham Inspector Gary Stewart said: "We are aware that fraudsters are posing as alleged police officers and are targeting residents in Grantham.

"If you receive a phone call from an alleged police officer asking you to cancel your bank cards, please do not carry this out as it is a scam. Alternatively, if you receive a call from an alleged police officer asking you to transfer money to a safe account to help with an ongoing fraud investigation, please hang up immediately as this is also a scam.

"Thankfully no-one fell victim to the fraudster's attempts and there was no money or information lost."

He added: "Remember, police officers will never ask you to share personal or financial information via a text message or email. If you're ever in doubt, hang up and contact your local policing team."

Earlier this week, Police issued a similar warning, following a similar incident in Skillington, as reported by Nub News.

  • If you have been a victim of fraud
If you think you may have been a victim of fraud, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud online or call 0300 123 2040. Report suspicious text messages by forwarding them to 7726. For suspicious emails, report it by forwarding it to [email protected]. For further crime advice, please visit the Fraud and scams page on the police website.

     

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