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Nottinghamshire Police are issuing an urgent warning about the continuing problem of courier fraud, where fraudsters hoodwink victims by pretending to be from the police before sending someone to collect cash or high-value items.

Since January 1, the force has received 20 reports of the problem, with some of the targeted victims losing thousands of pounds.

Courier frauds are mainly committed by organised crime groups. A member of the OCG, known as the “victim communicator”, makes a phone call to vulnerable potential victims, persuading them they are a police officer.

The victims are asked to withdraw money from their bank, purchase an expensive item and/or provide their bank details or card to assist with an operation.

Courier fraudsters call victims, often pretending to be the police, and get them buy expensive items or withdraw large sums of money from their bank accounts

Money, items, or documents are then handed over to a “courier”, who attends the victim’s address or meets them nearby, on the promise the money or item will be returned, or compensation will be provided.

However, no compensation is provided, and the money will not be returned.

In Nottinghamshire, people have been contacted by a man purporting to be from either Cheshire Police, or the Metropolitan Police.

The caller tells the person a bank card in their name has been found in the possession of a relative, who has been arrested.

They also tell the person counterfeit money was found on the relative, which has led to suspicions the person’s bank is issuing counterfeit notes.

The person is then persuaded to withdraw cash from their bank, so a “police officer" can come to their address and collect it, as part of the supposed police investigation.

To verify what they are being told is true, the person receiving the call is advised to hang up and ring 191.

However, that number is also not genuine and puts the caller through to another fraudster who is part of the scam.

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Dale Richardson, Nottinghamshire Police fraud protect officer, said: “We have seen a very high increase in this type of fraud over the last week.

“In many of the cases, no losses were reported but some victims have lost about £20,000 in total.

“Our message is simple – the police will never call to and ask you to withdraw money from your bank account, nor would we ever use a courier.

“We’re also advising people 191 is not a telephone number associated with any emergency service, so please do not call this number.

“If someone claiming to be a police officer asks you to call 191, they are a fraudster.

"Our advice is to hang up the call, wait 10 minutes so the line can clear, or use another phone and call Nottinghamshire Police on 101.

“If you do attend the bank, advise them on what it is you have been asked to do, even if the person who called you told you not to.”

A number of services exist to help combat nuisance calls, including the trueCall system which lets calls from friends and family straight through, but which asks unrecognised callers to identify themselves, and blocks unwelcome callers.

Police issue warning to Nottinghamshire residents over courier fraud