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Further warning issued by police after more elderly people in East Lancashire fall victim to ‘police scam’

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A further warning has been issued by detectives after more elderly residents have fallen victim to telephone fraud. Since the beginning of February there have been 33 reported incidents in East Lancashire, with about £80,000 having been stolen from the victims.

In each instance the victim was contacted by phone by some who was purporting to be a police officer. The story which was used by the offenders has appeared to have changed slightly each time, but they all involved the caller having said that the victim had been targeted for some sort of crime relating to their bank or bank card.

The victim has been asked for their bank account details or they were asked to transfer a substantial amount of money to a ‘safe’ account. In some of the instances, the victim has been asked to withdraw some funds from the relevant account as it needs to be checked for fingerprinting by a ‘police officer’ who then visits the victim’s address and takes their money.

Residents who are mainly aged in their seventies and eighties in Burnley, Padiham, Blackburn, Rishton, Mellor and Clayton le dale have been targeted by offenders. There have also been reports of a similar nature received in Central Lancashire in Preston and Bamber Bridge.

DC Barry James, Burnley CID, said ‘These are despicable crimes against vulnerable, elderly victims. We know that this is a national problem but areas of Lancashire are continuing to be targeted with more incidents being reported since our appeal last month. I would like to remind people to be vigilant and if you get this type of phone call, report it to the police and/ or your bank before transferring any money into another account or agreeing to hand any of your cash over.

‘People who commit these offences will often target the elderly posing as officials to gain their confidence and trust. No police officer or other official body will ever ask for your bank details or would ever ask you to withdraw or transfer funds. If you have an elderly friend or relative, please let them know that this is happening so they can avoid becoming a potential victim.’

DC James continued ‘We are working with colleagues throughout Lancashire and the rest of the country and will do everything we can to track down the heartless criminals committing these offences, defrauding these people, out of in some cases, their life savings. If you have any information about this incident or suspect that you may have fallen victim to a similar deception then please contact the police or Action Fraud.’

Anyone who has got any information can get in touch with police on 101 or alternatively Crimestoppers can be called anonymously on 0800 555 111 or on-line at www.Crimestoppers-uk.org

Similarly, you can contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or online at www.actionfraud.police.uk.

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