A prominent police officer has pleaded with people in Norfolk to be vigilant amid rising reports of sophisticated scams.

Richard Dawson, Norfolk Constabulary's beat manager for Fakenham, warned of the dangers facing the public as scammers look to prey upon the elderly and vulnerable.

Earlier this month, PC Dawson raised the issue at Fakenham's Safer Neighbourhood Action Panel (SNAP) meeting.

And he revealed another person had fallen victim to a scam just last week.

“The message that needs to go out is that neither the police, nor the banks or anyone claiming to work for them, will ask anyone to disclose their bank details or PIN or ask them to transfer money to a different bank account,” he said.

He went on to explain the kinds of tactics being employed by conmen.

“If a potential victim is contacted over the phone and told someone has been arrested trying to make a purchase using the victim’s bank details or bank card, it will be a scam,” added PC Dawson.

“The victim is asked to either transfer money to another account to keep it, with bank details supplied by the scammer, or asked to go and withdraw an amount from the bank and a courier will come and collect it as their account has been compromised.

“The call will be made by someone purporting to be from the police or the Serious Fraud Squad and they will have enough of the victim's personal details to make their story sound plausible.”

Norfolk police recently asked the public to look out for vulnerable neighbours, friends and family members after an elderly man from north Norfolk was targeted by fraudsters.

The Wells resident was persuaded to part with £51,000 in total last month after receiving phone calls from criminals pretending to be a police ‘cyber-crime fraud squad’.

After initial phone calls, the man agreed to transfer money via online bank transfers and a physical cash exchange.

This is known as courier fraud, which is when a scammer contacts a victim by telephone claiming to be a police officer or an employee from a bank or government department, among other agencies.

A number of techniques are used to convince the victim to hand over their bank details or cash, which may be passed on to a courier.

Further advice

Residents are being reminded that banks and the police will never ask someone to withdraw money or purchase items, for your PIN number or your bank/card details.

Other advice includes:

  • Always request photo ID and, if unsure, call the police directly
  • If you're asked to telephone a bank, always do it on a different phone to the one you were contacted on
  • Fraudsters have been known to play ringtones, hold music and a recorded message down the phone. Ensure you can hear a dialling tone before calling the police or use a friend's phone instead
  • If you have already handed over bank details, call your bank straight away to cancel the card

Those with information about the aforementioned Wells scam or similar incidents are being urged to call police on 101, quoting ‘Operation Radium’.

Alternatively, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

For further advice, visit the Action Fraud website at actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040.