Surrey Police: Surrey Police detectives are continuing to urge members of the public to remain vigilant after scams.

Mole Valley residents urged to remain vigilant following attempted telephone fraud offences Surrey Police detectives are continuing to urge members of the public to remain vigilant following several recent incidents where fraudsters have attempted to con Dorking residents into handing over cash or bank cards. The first incident occurred in a road off Holmesdale Road at around 12.40pm on Tuesday, 30 December, when a woman was contacted by a man requesting her bank details and asking her to go and get money out from her bank. The woman rightly had concerns about the authenticity of the call and contacted Surrey Police. Another incident took place at the Nat West Bank in the High Street, Dorking at around 9.50am on Wednesday, 31 December when a woman went to the front counter and stated that she had received a phone call asking her to take out £10,000. The bank quickly phoned the police and the fraudulent request was prevented. Surrey Police continues to investigate a series of offences across the county where fraudsters have been obtaining bank details, cards and cash using bogus telephone calls and couriers. On some occasions victims report they have received telephone calls from someone claiming to be either a police officer or bank worker who then tries to convince them to hand over large amounts of cash and bank cards. The victims are often told that their bank cards have been used by somebody who is in custody and the fraudsters then ask the victim to phone the bank to cancel the card and say they will send a courier round to collect the card. Meanwhile the fraudster stays on the line and obtains the victim's bank details whilst they think they are phoning the bank. A courier then calls at the victim's address saying they have been sent by the police to collect a parcel - the envelope containing the cards or cash. Richard Hamlin, Inspector for Mole Valley Safer Neighbourhood Team says: "Thankfully on both occasions in Dorking recently, the victims did not fall foul to these fraudsters and did not hand over any cash. "But we would like to highlight the fact that people should never give out their personal bank details over the phone or believe they need to get money out of their bank account at the request of a telephone caller. "It is concerning that we are seeing continuing fraudulent attempts to con people to hand over their cash across the county and we are again urging residents to report any suspicious calls from people claiming to be a bank worker or police officer as a matter of urgency. "The callers will often sound very genuine and the version of events they describe might seem plausible but I would like stress that these requests are not genuine and that no police officer or bank would operate in this manner and would never require a customer to confirm their PIN details or withdraw money over the phone. "Fortunately on both occasions the potential victims did not end up losing their cash or bank cards but others have not been so lucky and have ended up losing significant sums of money, in some cases savings which they had spent years accruing, as a result of this scam. We need the public to help us prevent this happening in the future.” People are reminded to protect themselves using the following advice: • Never give out any personal information about your bank account to anybody over the phone. • If someone calls claiming to be a police officer, ask for their identification number, police force and their telephone extension. Hang up the call, and advise that you will call them back using the 101 number. • Use a different phone line to call back if possible, i.e: a mobile phone if the call was received on your landline. • If you have given out information which could compromise your bank account security in any way, call your bank up to cancel your cards as soon as possible. • Never hand over money to someone at the door to be sent off elsewhere. • If someone comes to your door claiming to be a police officer or staff member, always ask for identification and make note of their identification number. If you have any information relating to these or similar incidents in Dorking please call Surrey Police on 101 and quote ref: 45140110325. Alternatively please call independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or you can report the incident online by visiting: http://www.surrey.police.uk/