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Man arrested after courier fraud attempt in Pershore
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A man has been arrested for a fraud offence after a Pershore woman was targeted by a courier fraudster attempting to collect her bank cards off her.
The 22-year-old was arrested on Monday (13 January) afternoon on suspicion of fraud by false representation and remains in custody at Worcester Police Station.
It follows up to seven phone calls to a woman in her 70s from a man claiming to be called ‘Jordan’ from Lloyds Bank fraud investigation department since Friday (10 January).
The man claimed the woman was a victim of fraud and that he was investigating and arranged for a ‘courier’ to collect her bank cards from her home address “to prevent further fraudulent activity on her account”.
However, the woman recognised his actions as a scam and worked with officers so they could detain any offenders. The suspect was arrested on attending her address.
In another courier fraud incident in Malvern, a woman in her 90s was targeted by people claiming be police officers on Thursday 9 January.
They told her that her card had fraudulently been used at Malvern Retail Park and in London
They asked her to withdraw £6,000 cash and not to tell anyone and in the afternoon a courier attended the house and collected the money.
Courier fraud is normally when a fraudster phones their victim and claims to be from the police or another law enforcement authority or the bank.
They then con the victim into revealing their PIN and credit or debit card details or ask them hand over cash or buy a high value item and hand it over to a ‘courier’.
The most common victims of courier fraud are often elderly people.
- Incidents like these are being tackled by West Mercia as part of Operation Prospero, which directly targets offenders posing as police officers, working in conjunction with Action Fraud .
- For more information about door-to-door and courier fraud please visit Door-to-door and courier fraud | West Mercia Police .
- Anyone who thinks they may have been contacted by a bogus police officer should call 101 or report it via our website Report a crime | West Mercia Police .
JI, Corporate Communications