Family loses thousands in 'Indian Police' scam

Northamptonshire Police said the case was the first of its kind to be reported in the county

Police have warned a county's Indian community to be on their guard against a new type of courier fraud after a family lost a "substantial amount of money".

The Northamptonshire force said someone pretending to be from the police in India called the victim and accused them of being involved in a money laundering scheme.

They were told to transfer funds into various bank accounts and to hand over £10,000 in cash to a courier to avoid deportation from the UK and jail in India.

Detectives have issued a reminder that law enforcement and banks will never call and ask someone to hand over money.

The initial phone call was followed by a video call from a person in an Indian police officer uniform and, over the next two months, the family received further calls instructing them to transfer large sums of money.

Northamptonshire Police said this case, in the north of the county, was the first time this type of courier fraud had been reported to the force.

Sarah Major of the economic crime unit said: "The victims genuinely believed they were in contact with the Indian police authority, who convinced them that they or their loved ones would be deported if they did not follow their instructions.

"This not only caused them deep distress but has had such an emotional impact as one of the victims was so scared that their family would be sent to prison that it took them two months to tell someone what was going on."