Northamptonshire Police arrested four people after a 76-year-old woman from the Isle of Man was duped into sending money to scammers in Northampton.
On October 12, 2021, the woman received numerous phone calls from people purporting to be from her bank. They appeared convincing, having many of her personal details already, and they told her that she needed to send a package of money to an address in Far Cotton, Northampton.
After the money was sent, the woman got suspicious and contacted her local police force on the Isle of Man. They in turn contacted Northamptonshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit who immediately launched an investigation and made fast-track enquiries to identify the suspects and protect the victim.
The package was delivered to an address in Far Cotton and taken in by a woman. The next day it was collected by a man and a woman. All three have since been arrested with a second man also identified as a potential suspect, arrested the day after.
All four - two women aged 19 and 25, and two men aged 27 and 30 - have been released under investigation pending further enquiries.
Thankfully, the money was recovered and returned to the woman in question.
Detective Sergeant Simon Seed, from Northamptonshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said:
“I am immensely pleased that our fast-paced actions were able to recover the money scammed from this lady and get it returned it to her.
“Fraudsters will look to tell any lie to their victims in order to get them to part with their money. If you do not personally know the person calling you, make checks to confirm who they are. If your bank appears to be calling you, end the call and ring them back on the number that you have on your bank card, or attend the branch.
“I hope this case shows the seriousness with which we take crimes such as this and that Northamptonshire Police will do everything in its power to fight these scammers on behalf of the victims they target.”
Banks will never ask you to take money out of your account to be collected. They will never ask you to send money to another account as part of an investigation, nor will they ask you to send physical cash to a third party address. If anyone on the phone tells you to tell a lie to an official in order to get hold of money, this is likely to be fraud.
Reporting
Report all Fraud and Cybercrime to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or online. Forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. Report SMS scams by forwarding the original message to 7726 (spells SPAM on the keypad).