Fraudsters pose as police officers in attempt to scam Grantham women
Two Grantham women contacted the Lincolnshire police on August 25th, 2021, after receiving phone calls from fraudsters posing as police officers.
Police are now appealing to the public to be on their guard in case they receive similar phone calls from people pretending to be police officers from Grantham Police station.
One woman in her 60s from Great Gonerby was contacted at around 2.15pm by someone claiming to be Detective Chief Inspector Philip Hunt. He informed the woman that her nephew had been arrested and was in custody and had in his possession a number of cards. The scam artist told the woman that one of the cards belonged to her. She was told to contact her bank to cancel the cards and attend the police station at 5.15pm
The victim refused to give any personal information and ignored the fraudsters request.
Later the same day a woman in her 70s from Gornerby Hill was contacted at 4pm. She received a phone call from a person pretending to be DCI Hunter from Hammersmith station. He told the woman that they had arrested a person who had cloned her cards and they needed to put her on hold so she could go through a secure line. The victim refused to provide any information and ended the call.
Grantham Inspector Gary Stewart said: “We are aware that fraudsters are posing as alleged police officers and are targeting residents in Grantham.
“If you receive a phone call from an alleged police officer asking you to cancel your bank cards, please do not carry this out as it is a scam. Alternatively, if you receive a call from an alleged police officer asking you to transfer money to a safe account to help with an ongoing fraud investigation, please hang up immediately as this is also a scam.
“Thankfully no-one fell victim to the fraudster’s attempts and there was no money or information lost. Remember, police officers will never ask you to share personal or financial information via a text message or email. If you’re ever in doubt, hang up and contact your local policing team.”
If you have been a victim of fraud, then please contact the police or if you think you may have been a victim of fraud, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud online or call 0300 123 2040.