POLICE are warning the public to be vigilant after an elderly man in Warrington was almost duped into handing over a large amount of cash to a fraudster pretending to be a police officer.
The pensioner called Warrington Police yesterday after withdrawing a large amount of cash from his bank. He took the money out to check if it was fake after being asked to do so by a man purporting to be a police officer.
The scam caller had told him that there had been fraudulent activity on his account and instructed him to withdraw the money and readout numbers on the notes to aid a supposed investigation into staff at the bank.
The fraudster will have been hoping to convince the pensioner that the cash was fake and needed to be collected by the ‘investigators’. Such telephone scammers can be very convincing, but thankfully the pensioner suspected that he was being duped and called us before any money was handed over.
A police spokesperson said: “We would like to remind everyone that the police, or your bank, will never ask you to withdraw money or transfer it to a different account. They will also never ask you to reveal your full banking password or PIN.
“If scammers do get through to you over the phone and try to trick you into parting with your money or personal information, hang up the phone and do not reply.”
For more fraud prevention advice visit http://orlo.uk/u7nfD and https://www.actionfraud.police.uk.
Anyone who believes they have been contacted fraudulently or been a victim of fraud should call us on 101 and Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040. Info can also be reported via https://www.cheshire.police.uk/ro/report.
