Bogus Nottinghamshire police officers target pensioners' savings

Steve Westby, 74, was phoned by a bogus policeman

Pensioners have been left devastated after their savings were stolen by bogus police officers, a force has said.

The victims, from Nottinghamshire, were persuaded they were helping undercover investigations into counterfeit bank notes.

One couple lost £24,000 after making three withdrawals from their bank.

Nottinghamshire Police described the scam as "very elaborate, very convincing and cruel".

Retired accountant, Steve Westby, 74, said he had been phoned by a bogus policeman at his home in Radcliffe-on-Trent.

The caller said a woman had been arrested in Oxford, with Mr Westby's bank card and £5,000 in counterfeit notes.

He gave Mr Westby both his badge number and a crime number.

Sophisticated fraud

Then he told him to report it to the local force, using a number almost identical to the police 101 non-emergency line.

"He spoke with authority, as you'd expect a police sergeant to talk to you," Mr Westby said.

"As he'd asked me to, I called 191 and got the number unobtainable tone.

"Within 30 seconds, I received a call that said 'this is the police non-emergency line; have you just tried to call us?'".

"You just instinctively, because of the way you're brought up, trust what a policeman's saying to you."

Mr Westby said he had not fallen for the scam but several other people were persuaded to help bogus police investigations into their banks.

They agreed to withdraw savings for detectives to prove those banks were issuing counterfeit notes in what is known as Courier Fraud.

The criminals then sent couriers to collect their cash.

Dale Richardson said the victims were "absolutely devastated"

The victims were told they would be reimbursed but they never got their money back.

The force said 34 pensioners were targeted within 15 days in January.

Six were persuaded to hand over cash totalling over £72,000 pounds.

One couple in their 80s lost £24,000 pounds after making three separate withdrawals at banks in Hucknall and Sutton-in-Ashfield.

What is courier fraud?

Courier fraud is so sophisticated because of the way the criminals groom people into trusting them.

Victims believe they are being helped by a credible authority figure. Then they are persuaded not to trust their bank.

They are even asked to choose the safe word for the courier who collects their cash.

Nottinghamshire Police said the scam is on the rise.

Fraud protect officer Dale Richardson said the victims were "absolutely devastated".

She added the bogus officers were "very convincing".

The force is warning people to be extra vigilant about cold callers and to report suspicious calls.

It added genuine officers would never ask people to withdraw cash from the bank, ask the public to help with undercover investigations, or send a courier to collect evidence from people's homes.

Nottinghamshire Police said they were helping the victims to try to get their money back.