AN ELDERLY woman was conned into transferring thousands of pounds into a fraudster’s bank account as another spate of phone scams hit the city.
The criminal, posing as a police officer, convinced the victim to transfer a total of £9,000 by saying it would help with an investigation.
They also told her not to tell the bank about the call and if asked to say the money was to buy a car.
Four other incidents have been reported in Worcester over the last few days but on the other occasions the victims did not transfer money.
Previous scams in the city saw the crooks send couriers out to collect bank cards, but now the scammers are asking victims to transfer the money to a secure police account.
The fraudsters call landlines to pretend they are from the police and say their cards have been used fraudulently.
They then ask the victims to call their bank to cancel the cards but will remain on the line to obtain bank details.
Supt Kevin Purcell from West Mercia Police urged people to be vigilant.
“Please remember that this is a scam and police will never ask you to transfer money to a bank account,” he said.
“If you receive a call like this, hang up immediately and call 101 using another phone. In an emergency or if a crime is in progress call 999.
“Please make sure that your friends and family are aware, particularly those who may be elderly or vulnerable. The more people we can make aware of this scam, the less chance they have of being targeted by these criminals.”
