Woman hands over £6k for fake bank fraud probe

Hampshire police said courier fraud was on the rise

A woman has handed over parcels containing bank cards and £6,000 in cash after fraudsters told her they needed evidence for a criminal inquiry.

The victim, who is aged in her 70s and from Winchester, withdrew the money after being phoned by a bogus police officer.

She handed the parcels to an Uber driver, who raised the alarm when he was met at the delivery destination in London by a masked man.

Hampshire police said it was an unusual method of courier fraud, which had risen substantially in June.

Det Con Mike Dumbleton said: "The driver did the right thing – he trusted his instincts that something wasn't right, reported it to us, and the result is that the victim is not at a loss of £6,000.

"We would encourage all private hire drivers to be aware of this scam, in case they get requests to transport packages in this way."

Courier fraud typically involves scammers calling victims and claiming to be from a bank, the police, or another law enforcement agency that needs help with an investigation.

The Winchester woman was phoned on 11 June by a man who claimed that her card had been cloned, police said.

The Uber driver collected two parcels from her, taking them to a car park in Watford.

When he arrived, a man who had his face partially covered approached the vehicle and gave a name that was not associated with the booking, police said.

The man ran off when challenged.

Hampshire police said: "We have seen a notable increase in reports of this type of fraud in the force area in June."