Warning as ‘fake police’ scam once again targets individuals across North Yorkshire

Residents across North Yorkshire have once again been targeted by a scam caller claiming to be a police officer and attempting to persuade victims to move money from their accounts.

Over 20 reports have been made to North Yorkshire Police since the start of October about this scam, with the caller informing their victims that a nephew, grandson or other family members has been arrested in possession of their bank cards.

The scammer then tells the victim they must move money out of their account and into a ‘police safe account’ in order to protect it. The reality is of course that the money is being transferred to the scammer and will most definitely not be protected.

North Yorkshire Police Financial Abuse Safeguarding Officer, Andy Fox, explains:

“We have already issued a number of warnings about this dangerous scam, but residents continue to be targeted and although we all like to think that we won’t fall for it, scammers work very hard to manipulate and build trust with their victim. Unfortunately, thousands of pounds have already been lost to this fraudster and we want to do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“Please remember:

• The police will NEVER ask you to transfer or withdraw money from your bank account.
• The police will NEVER ask you to lie.
• You can always verify the identity of a police officer by asking for their collar number then hanging up and calling 101 from a different phone.

“We’d urge anyone reading this to please tell as many people you know about this scam, the more people who are aware of it, the less these unscrupulous individuals will succeed in stealing any more money from their victims.”