Elderly couple scammed out of £350k by 'police officer'

The couple were persuaded to buy gold which was taken away by a fake postman

An elderly couple has been defrauded out of £350,000 by someone claiming to be a Metropolitan Police officer.

The couple, from Salisbury in Wiltshire, were called on 9 July when the person said they arrested someone in possession of bank cards in their names and needed their help to catch the fraudster.

The force's complex fraud team said: "Neither the police, nor your bank will ever ask you to withdraw money or buy gold or other products to send to them."

Wiltshire Police confirmed no arrests have been made.

It said the victims were first told to purchase £100,000 worth of watches and then, when this failed, gold bullion was delivered to the couple's address on three occasions.

Someone dressed as a postman went to their address each time to collect the gold, and the victims were promised that the money would be reimbursed by the government.

'Extremely sophisticated'

The fraudster offered the victims methods to verify their identity, including getting them to call the police directly to confirm the details, but stayed on the line so the phone reconnected to them.

The victims also received additional calls, pretending to be from their bank, to further legitimise the crime, Wiltshire Police said.

Acting Det Supt Ben Moore said: “Fraud of this nature is extremely sophisticated and the perpetrators are very well practised in methods to get their victims to believe that they are indeed helping the police, preying on honest people’s trusting nature.

"I would reinforce to everyone that has been defrauded in this way that this is not your fault, you have been a victim of a serious crime and support is available to help you."

He added: "If you receive a call of this nature, hang up and then call the police or your bank using the number on the back of your bank card.

"Also, either try to use a different phone line to the one where you received the call or, if this is not possible, take a five-minute break before making the call to ensure that the fraudster is not still hijacking your phone line.”