Arrest after man conned out of £7k by fake officer

A man has been arrested after another man, 83, was tricked into handing over £7,450 by someone pretending to be a police officer.

The victim reportedly received a phone call on 24 December and was asked to withdraw money to help an "undercover operation" which focused on a local bank.

As part of the scam, the fraudster claimed to be a police officer based in Doncaster and said a courier would collect the money from the victim.

South Yorkshire Police confirmed on Friday that its economic crime unit had been following "several lines of inquiry" and a 23-year-old man had since been arrested on suspicion of fraud and was released on bail.

A force spokesperson said courier fraud usually involved victims receiving a phone call from a criminal pretending to be from the police or another official organisation, such as a bank.

The fraudster would claim there was an issue with the victim's bank account or they would request the victim's help in an ongoing bank or police investigation.

Victims were then asked to withdraw a large sum of money, which would be collected by a courier for "evidence".

The South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said the police or bank would never call to ask people to verify their financial details by phone and urged anyone receiving such a call to hang up.

Anyone who had taken a call like this should wait several minutes and then get in touch with their bank using a number they knew and trusted - from a bank card or statement.

The advice to delay the call for a few minutes was because fraudsters had been known to stay on the line after someone had hung up.

Finally, they advised people to never let a stranger take a bank card - it should only ever have to be handed over at a person's bank.

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