Scammed Durham woman's cash intercepted at dispatch centre

The woman who is in her 70s told a family member she thought she had been scammed

A woman scammed into posting thousands of pounds in cash to fraudsters is to get the money back after the package she sent was intercepted by police.

Tricksters called the victim, who is in her 70s, at her County Durham home and said they were from a fraud headquarters in Manchester.

She was told to withdraw £3,200 and send it to Sheffield.

A relative phoned police who deployed officers to a Gateshead dispatch centre where the cash was found on Wednesday.

The woman told a family member she thought she had been scammed after she was told on the phone her bank account had been compromised.

They then called Durham Constabulary.

Tracked package

Call handler Melanie Murray and dispatcher Catherine Race, from the force control room, worked with officers on the ground to try to trace the package.

About two hours after the initial call came in, PC Natalie Heslop and Acting Sgt Andrea Batty tracked the package to a distribution centre in Gateshead.

PC Heslop was able to intercept the package and recover the money, which will now be returned,

A police spokesperson said: "Never assume that a phone call is authentic, and if you're unsure, always hang up straightaway."

Durham Constabulary believe the suspects are based in the South Yorkshire Police area, so are in the process of handing the investigation over to South Yorkshire Police.