Taxi Driver Online

Taxi driver thwarts Newmarket scam attempt




A quick-thinking taxi driver thwarted an attempt to defraud an elderly Newmarket man out of £3,000 in the latest in a string of scams across the county.

The 78-year-old victim received a call at around 12pm yesterday from a man pretending to be a police constable from Hammersmith, in London, who told the victim his bank card had been cloned and used to buy a £7,000 watch.

The caller told the victim his bank in Newmarket was subject to a fraud scam and they needed his help in setting a trap for the scammers.

This ‘trap’ involved the elderly man withdrawing £3,000 in cash and handing it over to a courier, who they would send to collect it from his home address.

The victim then challenged the caller and asked how he could verify that this request was not a scam in itself.

The caller told him to hang up the phone and dial 999 to speak to his local police station, which he duly did.

He then spoke to someone claiming to be a sergeant at Newmarket Police Station, who told him that the request was genuine.

But the victim was still not satisfied and called the number on the back of his bank card, where again he was told everything was ok.

After making a further call to what he believed was the local police station to confirm one more time this was legitimate, the victim then phoned the original caller back and said he would assist them.

After going into town to withdraw the cash, a taxi arrived at his house at around 1.30pm to collect the money.

The victim told the driver that the parcel was to be delivered to an address in London but on leaving the victim’s house, the taxi driver became worried that this might be a scam and flagged down a passing police car to inform them of his suspicions.

The officers confirmed it was a scam attempt and recovered the money, returning it to the victim.

In scams like this, it is believed the offenders leave the telephone line open, so when the victims think they have hung up to make another call to the police or their bank, they are in fact still on the line to the criminals.

Officers are urging residents to be careful when dealing with unknown callers and never to give out personal information or hand over cards or money in these circumstances.

The force said banks and police will never ask for account details over the phone and would never ask for people to hand over bank cards or cash to a courier.

If you receive such a call, leave the landline for at least five minutes or try to use a friend or neighbour’s telephone

Fraudsters will keep the line open and have been known to play ring tones, hold music and a recorded message down the phone so the victim believes they are making a call to a legitimate number.

Anyone with information about this crime, or any similar incidents, is asked to contact DC Ian Webb at Bury St Edmunds CID on 101, quoting reference number NE/14/391, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.


Read more: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Newmark ... z2vGAuKZLh

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