Elderly woman scammed out of £8150

West Mercia Police are warning about a financial scam that took place this week in Bridgnorth.

Criminals, pretending to be from the Fraud Squad in London, telephoned a woman in her 70s and told her a fraudulent transaction had originated from her bank account.

They then told her to call 999 immediately, which she did. However, the fraudsters had not cleared the line and instead continued with their scam.

The woman was then instructed to withdraw £8150 from her bank in the town, which was later collected from her home address by a woman at 6pm on 16 November.

Detective Inspector Emma Wright, from West Mercia Police, said: “This is a cruel fraud, abusing the trust that people have with organisations they think they can trust.

“I want to reassure people that detectives are investigating the offenders and that we are working with the victim, her bank and partner agencies to support both her and protect others from this type of scam.

“I would like to remind everyone the police will never ask you to pass funds to them in this manner. They will certainly never ask you to attend your bank to withdraw cash and hand it to a courier; if you or your family receive a call like this, hang up immediately. 

“Please speak to your elderly family members, friends, customers and neighbours to make sure everyone is aware of this scam and they know to hang up the phone, wait ten minutes which should clear the telephone line and then report it to police by calling 101 or report to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040.”

Anyone who has any information that may help with our enquiries is urged to call 101 or visit our website, quoting incident 510i of 16 November, 2021 or report it online via our website www.westmerciapolice.uk/tua/tell-us-about/

Alternatively, if you have information but don’t feel comfortable speaking to police, you can speak to the independent charity Crimestoppers. It is 100% anonymous, they never ask your name and they cannot trace your call or IP address. You can contact them online or by calling 0800 555 111.