Surrey Police pledge to '˜hunt down' bogus officer who stole £50k

Fortunately another person was stopped by a concerned friend before they lost their money.

A police spokesman said: “In both incidents, the victims were contacted by a fraudster impersonating a police officer, which is a frequently used line, trying to persuade them to part company with a sizeable amount of money as part of an investigation into a fictional fraud taking place.

“We are investigating both incidents. In one, a person was conned out of around £50,000, while the other was stopped by a concerned friend before any money could be extracted.”

Inspector Dan Gutierrez said: “This type of fraud is a national issue and can affect anyone.

“These criminals create a feeling in the victims that they are being specifically targeted as part of a conspiracy.

“We will look to hunt them down, arrest them and put them before the courts as fraudsters are not welcome in Surrey.

“We urge the public to be alert and report incidents of this to us and help us bring them to justice.”

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Police gave the following advice:

* The Bank or the police will not ask you to withdraw money from your account

* The Bank or the police will not ask you to hand money to a courier or any one purporting to be a courier

* If you receive a call from someone purporting to be from the bank or the police and you want to be sure they are who they say they are. Use a different phone if you can to call a recognised number for your bank and 101 for the police. If you don’t have another phone hang up and check that you have a clear dealing tone (a tactic of these offenders is to stay on the phone, that means that even if you hang up a land line phone the line could still be linked to the caller.

* Never give your PIN number (The police will never require this)

* Never agree to handing your card to a courier

The spokesman added: “These criminals will make you believe there has been an emergency or put you in some kind of fear (usually financial loss) if you recognise the danger signs you are better prepared to defending yourself from these criminals. If you have received a call of a similar nature or any information that may help our investigations, please dial 101.”