We have seen an increase of scam calls from fake police officers asking people to give money to couriers for a hoax investigation.

Fraud Protect Officer Tammy Barnes said: “These callers pretend to be investigating a crime involving the victims’ card or bank account.

“They then ask for money transfers, or even for cash withdrawals or bank cards to be given to a courier, to ‘assist with the investigation’ which the police will never do.

“We also know that these fraudsters often target one geographical area before moving on to the next, so please spread this message far and wide.”

The cold callers will give a fake name – potentially DC Roberts or DCI Harrison – and they may claim to be from Hammersmith Police.

Another warning sign is that this fake officer says not to share any details of the call with anyone as it risks jeopardising the police investigation. This is to apply pressure to the victim to comply and not ask for help.

It’s also important to note on previous occasions the caller has asked the victim to call 999 to verify their claims but instead remains on the line to complete the scam.

The police will never contact you to request banking information or ask for funds to aid an investigation.

We are currently seeing a high number of these calls in Derby, Mickleover and Chesterfield. 

If you receive a call like this – hang up and contact us to report it as soon as possible. We can then assess where is targeted, alert banks and prevent other scams:

If you wish to phone us to report, wait five minutes after ending the scam call and make sure you hear a dial tone before calling 101.

You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.