Police issue warning after courier fraud reports

Leicestershire Police is urging people to "remain vigilant" after it received several recent reports of courier fraud.

The force said it was investigating seven reports of courier fraud - where cold callers claim to be a police officer or a member of staff from their bank - in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland between 4 September and Monday.

Nicole McIntyre, from the Economic Crime Unit, said: "Fraudsters will usually target elderly or vulnerable people and often sound genuine to gain the trust of the victim.

"I would like to remind our communities that police or banks will not contact people in this way. If you get a call like this hang up."

In some instances, after trust had been gained, the caller would claim the victim's bank account has been subject to fraudulent activity or that they were investigating counterfeit currency, the force said.

It added the caller would usually persuade the victim to go their local branch and withdraw a large sum of money from their account.

The caller would then send someone to collect the money from the victim's home, police said.

In other cases, the caller would ask the victim to provide their bank card to a "courier" sent out to collect it and ask them to disclose their PIN number.

The card, police said, was then used to withdraw money from the victim's account.

McIntyre said: "If someone comes to your home claiming to be a police officer and they need to take your bank card to trace any fraudulent transactions, do not hand over your card and close the door.

"If you need to contact your bank to check, wait five minutes as fraudsters can stay on the line even after you have hung up or use a different line altogether.

"Your bank cards are yours and never let them be used by others."

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