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I wanted to provide you with an update regarding Fraud, which people around your area have highlighted as an issue of concern on the priority survey. We want people in Petersfield to be aware of a scam where victims are contacted by someone claiming to be a police officer.
It follows an incident where a man in his 80s lost £12,000 to fraudsters following a cold call.
The courier fraud incident was reported to us on Monday 10 May, but took place on Wednesday 6 May and the following day.
The victim received a call from someone claiming to be a police officer based in Petersfield.
The caller claimed that he was investigating a fraud relating to a travel agents in the town.
He persuaded the victim to take out Euros worth £6,000 to help with the investigation. A man then came to the victim’s address to collect the cash.
The victim was then called again and persuaded to take out another £6,000 in Euros from the Post Office. This money was also collected later by the same courier.
The victim later realised this was a scam and called the police.
We are aware of four other incidents with similar circumstances in the past two weeks – three of which took place in Petersfield, and the fourth in Winchester.
In every case, the victims realised it was a scam before any money was handed over and reported the incidents to us.
An investigation is underway and we are following several lines of enquiry.
We are also looking to see whether this incident is connected to another courier fraud in Andover, in which a woman in her 70s handed over cash after being called by a man purporting to be a police officer.
Police Staff Investigator Barbara Bundy, of the Economic Crime Investigation Team, said: “Courier fraud scammers prey on often vulnerable people to hand over their money. They sometimes claim to be police officers, or from a bank, or another local agency.
“To be clear, we will never call people in this way and ask them to withdraw money. If someone is doing so, then it is a scam.
“Please don’t speak to them. Hang up straight away.
“One concerning aspect of this incident is that the victim was told by the scammer to dial 999 while still on the call to verify the identity of the ‘officer’.
“The call did not disconnect and another scammer then came on the line and claimed that the first caller was genuine.
“Our advice is to hang up as soon as possible, wait five minutes, and make sure the call has disconnected. Use another phone if necessary to report the incident.”
Further advice includes:
• Take a step back from everything and take a few moments to think. Speak to a trusted friend or relative for their opinion before agreeing to anything. The fraudster’s tactic is often to keep the victim busy talking and isolated. They stress that they should not tell anyone else about the call.
• Your bank or the police will never send a courier to your home to collect cash, bank cards, PINs or other valuable goods.
• If you are a friend, relative or carer of someone you think might be vulnerable to this type of scam, please speak to them about this advice. You might be the only person who can stop them from being scammed.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of fraud, report it to us by calling 101. If a crime is in progress, dial 999.
Further information about reporting and how best to protect yourself from various types of fraud can be found on the Report Fraud website - https://www.reportfraud.police.uk/reporting-a-fraud/
 People in the UK lost £1.2bn to fraud in 2022, the equivalent of £2,300 every minute, according to bank industry group UK Finance. It said around three million scams took place, with frauds involving payment cards being the most common. Fraud is when trickery is used to gain a dishonest advantage, which is often financial, over another person. Cybercrime is any criminal act dealing with computers and networks. To report an incident of cybercrime or fraud and for further information visit the Action Fraud website at www.actionfraud.police.uk. If you haven’t already listed Action Fraud as an Information Provider who can send you information and alerts, why not click on the settings button at the bottom of this email, log into your account and update your sharing settings. Get Involved Please consider getting involved by registering for these messages, this will enable you to contribute to the local priority survey. We may be unaware of issues that you would like us to focus on. Take a few minutes to securely and privately register and have your say using the button below, this will mean we can focus on things that matter to you. 
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