A GROWING scam, known as ‘courier fraud’, where criminals pose as police and convince victims they are part of a non-existent undercover operation, is alarming police in London.

In the last 15 weeks, those targeted in lost approx £750,000, with Twickenham, Hillingdon, Westminster and Ealing being five areas most affected.

The average age of those targeted is 73 with many victims in their 80s and 90s.

The fraudsters contact people, usually by phone, and claim to be from the police or in some cases a fraud team within that person’s bank.

The criminal then claims to be investigating a fraud at a local bank branch, where fake bank notes are issued and staff are suspected of being involved.

The victim is asked to help support police by visiting the branch and withdrawing a substantial sum of the supposedly counterfeit cash to hand over to 'officers' for 'analysis'.

In the majority of cases the suspect is asked to withdraw between £3,000 and £7,000.

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In some cases, the fraudster will ask the victim to give them their bank card and pin.

The fraudster instructs the victim not to discuss the case with anyone in the branch, giving plausible explanations as to why they are withdrawing the money.

As a result, despite being questioned by bank staff, the victim takes out the cash, convinced the staff are part of a fraud.

The fraudster will then visit the victim’s home address and collect the money or bank cards, normally quoting a password that they had agreed with the victim.

The victim is assured the money will be deposited back into their account after the operation is complete. However, once the money is handed, over the fraudster disappears with the cash.

In another version of the scam, the criminal convinces the victim to transfer money to a so-called ‘safe account’, to protect funds from ‘corrupt’ bank staff. However, the account is in fact controlled by the criminal.

Det Chief Insp Gary Miles said: “This is a particularly despicable deception, targeting elderly and vulnerable people, preying on their trust of authority figures. The fraudsters lack any moral compass or conscience and are expert in manipulating people to give up confidential information.

Police remind all customers that they and the banks will never ask people to take part in an anti-fraud operation or to transfer money to a ‘safe account’.

Be wary of any calls, texts or emails purporting to be from the police, asking for your personal or financial details, or for you to transfer money.

If you fall victim to this type of fraud or receive suspicious calls, contact police or report it via action fraud: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/