Quick-thinking cops retrieve elderly man’s savings

Two quick-thinking police officers chased down a 79-year-old’s savings after he became a victim of fraud.

On May 25, the Northampton man received a telephone call from someone claiming to be from the fraud department at Barclays Bank who convinced him he needed to post £2,500 to an address in Sheffield.

The man posted the money before he informed his daughter who got suspicious that the phone call was a scam and contacted police.

Two officers – PC Danny Winslow Williams and PC Sean Lonergan – were deployed and after establishing the circumstances, raced to the local post office to see if the letter could be retrieved.

Sadly it had already been collected and was on its way to the Royal Mail depot in Swan Valley.

After speaking to a woman who worked at the depot, the officers were able to get all of the packages from that area isolated, with a worker at the depot able to identify and intercept the package out of 200,000 total packages.

PCs Winslow Williams and Lonergan were then able to collect the package and return it to its very grateful rightful owner.

LPA Commander for Northampton, Superintendent Kev Mulligan, said: “This was a cracking result for the victim of this crime who, as a result of the quick-thinking of PCs Winslow Williams and Lonergan, didn’t lose a penny to these shameless scammers.

“Both officers here showed incredible presence of mind with a complete focus on getting the best result for the victim of this crime and I’m really proud of the pair of them.

“I’d also like to thank the staff at the Swan Valley depot, particularly Rose, who was helpful from the moment we made contact and understood the need for speed to ensure the package was quickly retrieved.”

Tips to avoid becoming a fraud victim 

• Remember that neither a bank or the police will ever ask for your PIN or arrange collection of your bank card or money

• Your bank nor the police will never ask you to make high value purchases or withdraw cash to send for examination

• Your bank, the police and any genuine organisation will never contact you and ask for your online banking log-in details, including a one-time password, or to move money to another account

• If you receive one of these calls, end it immediately and contact the police and your bank via a different phone line, using a number you have verified. If you do not have another phone line you can use, hang up and wait five minutes until the line has fully cleared

If you think you have been defrauded, report it online at Action Fraud or call us on 101.