Warning to Northamptonshire residents after two people lose £8,000 to frauds disguised as police officers

Two Northamptonshire residents fell victim to a malicious scam this week where a cold-caller disguised as a police officer told them to withdraw money from their bank, which then led to them losing thousands of pounds to the fraudsters.

The two victims - one in Kettering and one in west Northamptonshire - were both targetted by the cold-callers in the same way and, after withdrawing money from their bank, their cash was collected by a 'courier'. They lost a total of £8,000 to the fraudsters.

A further two victims - one from Blisworth and the other from Northampton - were targetted in a similar way on Wednesday and Thursday but, fortunately, they did not fall for the scam and did not hand over any money.

All four cases are now being investigated by Northamptonshire's Police's Economic Crime Unit.

A spokesperson for Northamptonshire Police said: "To help protect people from this kind of scam, detectives are urging people to never give out financial details if they are cold-called by people claiming to be from the police or other official bodies.

"If you have elderly or vulnerable relatives or friends, please take the time to share this message with them to help prevent them falling victim to fraud in this way."

Police would never ask anyone to withdraw cash from their account, move money to a safe account or send someone to collect money from them. Officers are urging residents to never disclose any personal or financial information as a result of an unexpected call and residents should end a call if they are unsure as to the identity of the caller and call back the organisation on a trusted number they have obtained themselves.

Incidents can be reported to Northamptonshire Police by calling 101 or going on the Northamptonshire Police website.