Brits are being warned of a worrying increase in a fraud that sees criminals pretending to be the police turn up at their victims' homes to steal up to £640,000.
Victims – who are often vulnerable or older people – are falling prey as conmen steal on average £5,000, with one fraudster pocketing £640,000, according to the charity Crimestoppers.
The scam is known as courier fraud, where criminals impersonate your bank or the police.
They often follow up by sending a courier to the victim’s home address to pick up their bank card, after creating a fake race against time to prevent any further scam.
Sadly, in many cases the victims oblige and are unable to claw back what they lose.
Around 60% of victims are over 70, and whilst the average loss per person is around £5,000, the highest single report last year was £640,000.
In 2021 more than 3,600 people fell victim to courier fraud, according to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) - part of the City of London Police.
Criminals stole £15million using this type of scam.
One victim was a woman in her 80s who was conned out of more than £30,000 after handing over her debit card and her driver’s licence.
Now Crimestoppers is speaking out to draw attention to the fraud and the impact it has on individuals and families.
The charity also wants to gain vital information on the crime gangs behind the fraud and reach out to potential victims.
Crimestoppers is urging Brits to report courier scams to Action Fraud.
If a crime is in progress, the best thing to do is call 999.
Crimestoppers director of operations Mick Duthie said: “Please help us stamp out courier fraud. If you know someone who is responsible but want to stay anonymous, tell our charity what you know.
"Call freephone 0800 555 111 or visit Crimestoppers-uk.org. Together, we can help protect potential future victims from being defrauded in this particularly horrible way.”
Detective Chief Inspector Lee Parish, from the City of London Police, said: ”Courier fraudsters prey on some of the most vulnerable and most trustworthy members of society.
"Just knowing how to spot the warning signs of courier fraud could be the difference on whether someone falls victim to these callous criminals.”
The Government spent more than £100million investigating benefits fraud in the last three years, figures obtained by The Mirror reveal.
The figure would have been even higher, but during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic many fraud investigators were roped into helping with huge increases in benefits claimants.
The definition of benefits fraud by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is broad, and does not just cover people setting out to deceive.
It includes "someone obtaining state benefit they are not entitled to" as well as "deliberately failing to report a change in their personal circumstances".
A Freedom of Information request submitted by The Mirror found that the DWP spent £103.3million probing suspected welfare fraud from April 2019 until April 2022.
