Scam card thieves steal £57,500 from Barking and Dagenham elderly people
Card scam thieves posing as police have stolen £57,500 from elderly Barking and Dagenham residents since January.
Police have received 74 reports of people being targeted by phone. About two thirds spotted it was a scam and hung up, but some were conned out of large amounts of money.
As reported in the Post on May 1, one 77-year-old woman in Barking lost £7,000 after being scammed twice.
The fraud usually involves a person calling the victim pretending to be a police officer and saying that they have arrested someone with a copy of their bank card.
They then tell the victim that they need the original card to be able to cancel it and send a courier to collect the card.
You may also want to watch:
Police have set up a specialist unit to catch the criminals and are spreading awareness of the scam among elderly people and their families.
Det Insp Andy Petty said: “We are now seeing evidence that the message is getting out there. One man who received a call from these criminals was asked to call the police by the caller.
Most Read
- 1 Barking and Dagenham pubs and bars reopen for outdoor service
- 2 Litter pickers mark opening of new community centre in Dagenham
- 3 Mayoral election 2021: how will candidates improve east London?
- 4 Street food market coming to Barking as lockdown continues to ease
- 5 Three arrests after cannabis raids in Dagenham and South Woodford
- 6 Archery prodigy recognised by county for record-breaking efforts
- 7 Barking boss Gardner wants to use Cup to embed new system and hand out opportunities
- 8 Daggers have some of best strikers in league says manager McMahon
- 9 Second World War bomb pulled from River Thames in Barking
- 10 Jailed: Burglar who drove on wrong side of road trying to flee police
“Knowing that the suspects stay on the line and pretend to be the police, he hung up, but instead of calling from his own phone, went next door to his neighbour in order to make the call.”
He said police and banks never ask for a person’s PIN number so urge people not to give it out to anyone who requests it.
