Courier fraudsters target Indian community

Residents in Northamptonshire are being urged to be on their guard following a report of a new variation of courier fraud in the county, which involved criminals claiming to be from the Indian Police authorities.

Officers from the Economic Crime Unit are investigating the incident which occurred between May and July this year in the north of the county and resulted in the victims being defrauded of a substantial amount of money.

They are also issuing a reminder to the public that the police, law enforcement or banks would never call and ask someone to hand over cash to a courier/bank staff or any law enforcement agency, nor ask them to post cash to an address or to transfer money to another account.

With the support of the victims, the Economic Crime Unit has released details of this specific crime used in this new variant, in a bid to warn the public of tactics used by criminal groups.

The victims were called by a fraudster purporting to be from the Indian Police authorities, who told them that they had been implicated in a money laundering investigation after a known criminal in India had opened a bank account in their name.

The fraudster told the victims they would be contacted by the lead investigator, who would provide them with further instructions on what to do, to avoid being deported from the UK and imprisoned for 25 years in India.

The following day, they received a video call from a person in an Indian police officer uniform, and over the next two months the victims received further calls instructing them to transfer large sums of money to both Indian and UK based bank accounts as well as via the Taptap app.

Finally, the victims were told to withdraw £10,000 and hand it over to a courier who would collect it from their home address.

PC Sarah Major of the Economic Crime Unit said: “This is the first time this type of courier fraud has been reported to Northamptonshire Police, and with the support of the victims, we want to make sure no-one is targeted in the same way.

“The victims genuinely believed they were in contact with the Indian police authority, who convinced them that they or their or their loved ones would be deported if they did not follow their instructions.

“The criminals knew the victims’ names and that they were from India when they made initial contact and used their knowledge of this as well as the Indian systems to legitimise the fraud, adding a whole extra layer of fear around being investigated by the Indian authorities.

“This not only caused them deep distress but has had such an emotional impact as one of the victims was so scared that their family would be sent to prison that it took them two months to tell someone what was going on.”

Signs of courier fraud:

• Courier fraud usually starts with an unsolicited telephone call to the victim

• Criminals can “spoof” the telephone number they are calling from so it may show on your call display or caller ID as the number of the genuine organisation that they are pretending to be from

• Typically, the suspect will pose as a bank official, police officer or other law enforcement agency or trusted organisation

• Courier fraudsters will usually request that the victim attends their bank or post office to withdraw cash or ask for their bank card so that a courier can collect it from them. There have been instances where victims are asked to purchase high value items such as Rolex watches and gold bullion

• Fraudsters will instruct victims not to tell any family, friends or neighbours about what they are doing and not to trust anyone in the bank or post office who may question the request to withdraw the cash.

• When carrying out courier fraud, criminals will request the victim hangs up the phone to ring their bank or police for confirmation. If they have called the victim’s landline, they are able to keep the phone line open. The victim will hang up and then dial the number of their bank or the police, thinking the line has cleared, a dial tone and/or dial tone can be played to add to the fake authenticity. The suspect then answers the call and purports to be bank official or police and provides false confirmation. Sometime the fraudsters will tell the victim they will transfer them through to 999 so that they can verify their identity

• Fraudsters will also plan for a courier to come to the victim’s home address or meet them outside the bank to collect the cash or bank card

• If you think you have been a victim of fraud you should report it to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud reporting centre by calling 0300 123 20 40 or online by visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk

• If you need to contact your bank to report a fraud or to check if a call you have just received from someone purporting to be your bank was your bank, you can dial 159. All high street banks and some phone providers are signed up to this service. It is a number you can trust to get you through to your bank safely and securely every time

Report any suspicious contact, or crime, to Northamptonshire Police by calling 101, or going online at www.northants.police.uk/RO. In an emergency, always call 999.