Fraudsters impersonating Police and bank staff

Good afternoon Resident

I wanted to make residents aware of fraudsters that are contacting members of the public pretending to be Police and Bank staff. These persons contact the victims via the phone, generally the home phone, and tell the victim that they need to assist with an investigation into bank staff. This eventually leads to the request that the victim withdraws cash and then either sends it to an address, or someone attends their address and collects.

The Police will never ask you to withdraw funds, nor to send cash anywhere. If it doesn't feel right then put the phone down, take some time and call Kent Police on 101 (Using a different phone, or once you have ensured line has cleared).

Whilst the target of these crimes is the general public, those who have fallen victim are generally older. Please can I ask that you keep an eye on elderly neighbours, relatives, friends etc, and if they have been a victim of this please do contact Report fraud via the link UK's Home for Reporting Cyber Crime & Fraud - Report Fraud or via phone 0300 123 2040.

If the fraud is ongoing and there is imminent risk to a person or their finances then please call Kent Police on 999.

Fraud is unfortunately something many of us will be the targets of, to help protect yourself please have a read of the following guidance on Report Fraud Individual cyber protection - Report Fraud