Police impersonator fraud: two cases reported yesterday

Police will NEVER, under any circumstances, ask anyone to take money out of their account and hand it over as part of an investigation. 

We are raising awareness of this following two cases in Skegness yesterday (Wednesday 28 January) in which people were railroaded, exploited and conned into handing over their savings. They were initially called on the phone by fraudsters who claimed to be police officers.

The elaborate stories these fraudsters use may vary, but it’s common that they say they are police, they give a name (in one of these cases the name given was ‘DC Martin from the Met Police’), and they say they are investigating allegations of fraud or money laundering at your bank. They say they need you to take out cash and give it to them as part of this investigation. They may say it’s so they can test it for fingerprints. They will tell you that you can’t tell anybody, especially the bank, as it will compromise the investigation. We cannot emphasise enough how convincing these criminals are.

A Police Officer will NEVER ask you to hand over money as part of an investigation. We will NEVER ask for your PIN number. We will NEVER ask for your bank card. We will NEVER ask that you purchase items or vouchers.

Incident 317 of 28 January was reported at 4.19pm. A man visited the victim’s home in Skegness at 2.50pm and collected an envelope of cash.

Incident 414 of 28 January was reported at 7pm. This followed a visit to the victim’s home, also in Skegness, at around 3pm. Cash was also handed over in this incident.

In both cases, a ‘password’ had been agreed with the victims and this was given by the man attending the addresses, who in both incidents was reported to have been wearing a face mask.

While both the incidents reported yesterday were in Skegness, it’s common for criminals to repeatedly target an area and then move on to the next area – so this could happen anywhere in the county.

Please help keep people and their savings safe by raising awareness of this with family, friends and neighbours.