Detectives swoop on Northampton address after fake bank staff tell pensioner to send cash

Police swooped on an address in Northampton after a 76-year-old woman from the Isle of Man was duped into sending cash to scammers in the town.

Two men and two women aged between 19 and 30 were arrested after numerous phone calls claiming to be from the victim's bank last Tuesday (October 12) instructing her to mail a package of money to an address in Far Cotton.

Detectives revealed the bogus callers were very convincing and already had many of her personal details.

After the money was sent, the woman got suspicious and local officers got in touch with the Northamptonshire Police Economic Crime Unit who immediately launched an investigation to identify the suspects.

The package containing the pensioner's money was delivered and taken in by a woman, then collected the next day by a man and a woman.

All three were arrested, along with a second man also identified as a potential suspect and arrested the day after.

The quartet have been released under investigation pending further enquiries while the money recovered has been returned to the victim.

Detective Sergeant Simon Seed, from Northamptonshire Police Economic Crime Unit, said: “I am immensely pleased that our fast-paced actions were able to recover the money scammed from this lady and get it returned it to her.

“Fraudsters will look to tell any lie to their victims in order to get them to part with their money.

"If you do not personally know the person calling you, make checks to confirm who they are. If your bank appears to be calling you, end the call and ring them back on the number that you have on your bank card, or attend the branch.

“I hope this case shows the seriousness with which we take crimes such as this and that Northamptonshire Police will do everything in its power to fight these scammers on behalf of the victims they target.”

Banks will never ask you to take money out of your account to be collected. They will never ask you to send money to another account as part of an investigation, nor will they ask you to send physical cash to a third party address. If anyone on the phone tells you to tell a lie to an official in order to get hold of money, this is likely fraud.

Call 101 if you’re suspicious of a particular phone call and never give out any personal details to cold callers.