People in Lichfield and Burntwood are being warned to be on their guard against a scam where callers are pretending to be police officers.
The scammers have targeted residents across the county in recent days by contacting them on a spoofed version of the Staffordshire Police back up phone number.
One incident saw a man phoned by someone calling themselves Michelle Green posing as a police officer.
She told the victim that he’d been a victim of fraud and needed to transfer his money into another account for protection. Following the initial phone call, she then continued to contact the victim on WhatsApp instant messaging service.
The man went to a bank to carry out the transfer, but staff had suspicions and prevented the money being taken.
A Staffordshire Police spokesperson said:
“In another incident residents were asked to withdraw large amounts of cash so it could be collected for safety by a man posing as a police officer.
“The police will never ask you to withdraw money for collection by an officer or ask you to transfer money into another account.
“We do not use our backup phone number – 0300 123 4455 – for outgoing calls.”
Staffordshire Police spokesperson
Anyone contacted by scammers is asked to use a different phone line to call 0300 123 2040 or police on 101. Anyone without access to an alternative phone, should wait for a period of time and try calling a friend or family member first to make sure the criminals are no longer on the line.
