Two Fraudsters Arrested for Scamming Elderly Victim

Cleveland Police’s Economic Crime Unit ensured the arrest of two fraudsters last week after an 89-year-old woman was the victim of a scam.

The victim had been contacted over the phone by fraudsters claiming to be from Barclays Bank.

She was told that she needed to send her bank cards to St Helens in Merseyside so her cards could be protected from fraud.

The victim was told once the cards had undergone the ‘protection’ they needed then they would be sent back to her.

Bank cards belonging to the victim were posted to the Merseyside address. A few days later the victim attended her bank to ask about her bank cards, and a banking protocol was invoked.

£1,000 had already been taken from her accounts at this point.

Action Fraud was contacted and then the incident was passed over to the Economic Crime Unit.

Investigating Officer, Fraud Investigation Team Detective Constable Michelle Dack said: “Once this job was passed over to the team, I immediately conducted some enquiries with the banks to identify the locations of the victim’s bank cards.  The cards were traced to usage at two addresses in London and one in Leicester”.

“I then made some enquiries regarding the delivery of the bank cards to the Merseyside address and confirmed that this was the only delivery of this nature to this property.

Once I knew this, I contacted our colleagues at the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit who executed a warrant at the St Helens address and arrested two males.

“£1,600 cash was seized, and account freezing orders are being pursued to secure over £10,000 found in their bank accounts. Paperwork seized from the property recovered suggested that there are other victims who will now be traced and safeguarded.

“Both males have now been bailed pending further enquiries.

“Thankfully we managed to stop the fraudsters from stealing any more money from the victim - and we prevented further people from being scammed. The victim also received back the money that was stolen from her.”

Information on how to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of fraud can be found on the Cleveland Police website here: Advice about fraud | Cleveland Police