On January 20, 21, and 24, a man in his 80s from the Salisbury area received a phone call asking him to withdraw a large sum of money to aid an investigation into his bank account.

A man then came to his house to collect the money.

We are currently conducting enquiries in relation to this incident and would like to hear from anyone who may have seen a suspicious vehicle in the Winterbourne Gunner area on the evenings of these dates.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 and quote crime reference number 54230009641.

Courier fraud occurs when a fraudster contacts victims by phone claiming to be a police officer or a bank official,” said a Wiltshire Police spokesperson. To back up this claim, the caller may be able to confirm some basic information about the victim, such as their full name and address.

“The caller may also offer a telephone number for the victim to telephone or ask the victim to call the number on the back of their bank card to check that they are genuine. In these cases, either the number provided is not genuine or, if a genuine number is provided, the fraudster will remain on the line and transfer the victim to a different individual.

On this occasion, the fraudster pretended to be a Metropolitan Police officer and informed the man that his card had been compromised. He instructed the man to withdraw money to aid in the investigation.

“These people are very convincing and use a variety of techniques to gain your trust.”

Then there’s the issue of the dreaded P-word. They will never come to your house to pick up your card, cash, or purchased items. If you receive a call like this, hang up.
• If you receive a call from your bank or the police, make sure you know who the caller is before providing any personal information. This can be accomplished by dialling your bank (the number on the back of your card) or the police (101) from a different phone line.
• Use a phone owned by a family member, friend, or neighbour to get a different line. This is due to scammers’ ability to keep phone lines open after pretending to hang up. So, even though you think you’re making a new phone call, the line is still open to the scammer, who poses as a representative of your bank or the police.
• Your bank’s security questions may differ, but they will never ask you to authorise anything by entering your PIN into your phone.
• Never send money overseas to someone you’ve never met or to anyone you don’t know and trust.
• Similarly, never agree to keep your online relationship private. This is a ploy to keep you from telling your family and friends, who will recognise the scam for what it is.

For more information, go to www.actionfraud.police.uk.