Fraudsters scam Horsham couple out of £2,000

Police say that the couple were called by someone claiming to be from their bank who spent some hours convincing them that they had to hand over their cards because, they said, there had been fraudulent activity on their account.

A police spokesman said: “They duly handed them to a woman who called at the door.

“Fortunately their son happened to visit soon afterwards, quickly realised it was a scam and got the cards cancelled.

“However it transpired that in the meantime the card had been used four times in barely ten minutes, withdrawing £2,000.”

Now residents are being urged to stay alert following a number of other cases of courier fraud being reported in Sussex.

This year so far, Sussex Police say they have seen 392 reports of this type of fraud against vulnerable victims, with a total loss of £1.54 million - an average of more than £12,000 per victim.

More than half of the victims lived alone and more than three quarters were aged 60 or over.

The police spokesmen said: “The majority of victims used bank transfer, had their bank cards collected and handed over cash sums to the fraudsters.”

PC Bernadette Lawrie, financial abuse safeguarding officer for Surrey and Sussex Police, said: “Criminals continue to exploit people through this appalling method and we are urging the public to be cautious of unexpected phone calls from people asking for personal information.

“If you have an older family member, we urge you to talk them through these tips for keeping safe from these courier fraud.

“But many residents are successful in spotting this sort of approach and do not part with anything. So far this year we have 265 reports across Sussex in which the attempts have failed thanks to alert residents.”