A group of criminals who defrauded victims across Scotland out of £1million, scammed more than a third of their haul from people in Forth Valley.
Elderly people were the victims of scams which saw fraudsters pose as bank staff pretending to investigate fraud. They talked the vulnerable residents into withdrawing cash and then visited their homes to collect it.
Following a police operation six people - from across west central Scotland - have been arrested and cops say enquiries are ongoing. At a meeting of Stirling Council’s public safety committee, police representatives told councillors that one organised crime group alone managed to fleece locals in Forth Valley of more than £300,000, leading to the force launching a dedicated operation.
The Police Scotland report said: “Between October 2021 and March 2022 a series of high value frauds were committed across Police Scotland that were observed to be similar in victim selection, methodology and perpetration.
“This crime series involved suspects contacting elderly victims claiming to be from the fraud department of their bank and identifying irregular transactions on their account; at times suggesting that bank staff were involved with irregular transactions and police were assisting them with their enquiries.
“They thereafter coerced the victims to attend at their bank and either withdraw funds in cash or transfer money online. Suspects would then attend the victims’ home address or arrange to meet them at a public place and hand over money to a person purporting to be from the police.
“It is estimated that the organised crime group responsible has amassed £1million with a further £500,000 in attempted transactions in this short space of time.
“Of that figure, in excess of £300,000 of the defrauded funds relates to victims in the Forth Valley area.”
It adds: “Investigation by our Priority Crime Team has identified a number of persons of interest and, working in partnership with specialist resources, we have conducted a number of ‘executive days of action’ to mitigate further threat. This has led to the arrest and charge of a number of persons with fraud and other associated crimes.
“Enquiries are continuing to establish further threats from this organised crime group.”
In response to incidents reported in the Dunblane area, a police crime prevention officer linked in with Dunblane Cathedral to reach out to parishioners across the local area through a series of videos explaining how to identify this type of fraud, keep money safe and report any concerns to the police.
“The videos were distributed through the cathedral’s social media and You Tube channels and an article included in a newsletter circulated to all residents of Dunblane.
Trossachs and Teith councillor Martin Earl spoke of the importance of using a range of methods to get the message out and provide advice.
He also cited a case he had recently been made of aware of where “an older gentleman with health vulnerabilities ended up getting absolutely ripped off to the tune of £2000 for people to lay a few paving slaps in his front drive” saying that Trading Standards were now involved.
Police representatives said: “Fraud and scams remain of key concern with numerous reports being received or scams being carried out using a number of different methods which include: doorstep scams; impersonation fraud; romance scams; bogus investment opportunities; energy and environmental deals/product scams; and persons phishing for personal data by purporting to be from a reputable company or agency.
“A social media campaign has been delivered warning people of what to look out for and how to keep themselves safe.
To ensure we are able to reach those members of our communities who do not have access to social media, we have placed articles within print media and organised leaflet drops in key areas to spread this information widely.
“We continue to work with local banks and Trading Standards as part of the banking protocol to identify vulnerable victims who are in the process of being defrauded of funds from their bank account and intervene to prevent this from happening.”
“Work has also been undertaken with local supermarkets to raise awareness amongst staff of gift card fraud.”
A protocol has been established to ensure attempted high value purchases are escalated to store management prior to completing the sale and police are notified where criminality is suspected.”
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