On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…five gold bars and a Rolex* watch… #FraudFreeXmas

Good afternoon,

We, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, will never ask you to buy gold, buy jewellery or other valuables, withdraw cash or write cheques for collection, or transfer money to different bank accounts or via money exchange services, or ask for your bank/credit cards, PINs or one-time passwords.  We won’t randomly phone you, out of the blue, to ask you to help us with an investigation by directing you to buy gold/valuables, withdraw cash, hand over or post bank/credit cards and then tell you to meet us in a car park, post them on, or send a courier round to collect them. 

Neither will the banks, nor HMRC, nor DWP, nor Report Fraud, nor another police force etc.  

If you are contacted and asked to do something similar – remember the Home Office advice to prevent fraud is Stop! Think Fraud.  So take a moment, take a breath, make a coffee, wait a few minutes, ideally use a different phone, and give us a call on 101 and double-check if any officers/staff are trying to contact you.  Sometimes there is a wait for 101 as they are the same call-takers who answer 999 calls – but it’s far better to be waiting to speak to police than have criminals directing you to, one way or another, empty your bank account.

To find out more, please see: https://www.reportfraud.police.uk/courier-fraud/

*Other brands are available. 

Please do share this important warning with friends and family and encourage them to sign up for their own Hampshire Alert: https://www.hampshirealert.co.uk/ 

Hampshire Alerts is not a crime reporting portal – please do not report crime here.

If you realise you’ve been scammed and wish to report a fraud that has already happened, please report it to Report Fraud either by phone 0300 123 2040 or online at:  https://www.reportfraud.police.uk/

However, if a fraud or other crime is in progress, and/or you are in fear for yourself or someone else, and/or there is evidence in situ that could be damaged/destroyed, please phone 999 immediately. 

Otherwise, report non-fraud crime online, or find out about other ways to report a crime at: https://www.hampshire.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/

If you would like to report a crime anonymously please contact: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/ or phone 0800 555 111

If you've been affected by a crime please contact Victim Care Hub for free, confidential, support:  https://www.hampshireiowvictimcare.co.uk/  or phone 0808 178 1641

If you’ve received a phishing email please report it to your email provider and/or forward it to report@phishing.gov.uk 

If you’ve received unwanted phone calls or texts from people you think are trying to scam you, but you haven’t engaged with them, please forward the text/phone number to 7726 or to your phone provider.

Thank you – Fraud Safeguarding Team