Suffolk police courier fraud warning after elderly woman conned out of £4,000

Police are urging families, friends and neighbours to discuss courier fraud with elderly and vulnerable residents in Suffolk after a woman lost more than £4,000 to fraudsters.

The incident took place on Wednesday, October 29, in the Babergh area and involved a female victim aged in her 80s.

The woman was contacted via her landline telephone by a man claiming to be from the police, before communication was continued via her mobile telephone.

The woman was told by the fraudsters that she was the victim of a fraud.

They falsely claimed this involved an employee at a bank in Essex.

The victim was told to take a taxi to the bank in question and was then asked to withdraw £4,000.

The victim was also told to withdraw a further €2,000 from another organisation.

After returning, the fraudsters set up collection for the money, with a courier arriving later that day, with a codeword requested.

Police were alerted after the money and three bank cards had been taken.

Police are urging residents to share this warning with elderly and vulnerable family members, friends and neighbours – but stress that anyone can fall victim to these sophisticated scams.

If you know of anyone that you feel might be susceptible to this, please help ensure they are aware of the dangers and consider measures such as call blockers.

Detective Sergeant Jamie Adams, of Suffolk Constabulary’s Fraud Assessment Unit said: “These are crimes done by the absolute worst in society, preying on the vulnerable, the elderly, and those that trust services such as police and banks the most.

“The fraudsters often contact them directly with key information, pretending to be officers, giving believable names, ranks, stations and collar numbers.

“This isn’t just vulnerable people; the victims we have seen are knowledgeable people but those responsible are professionals, they know what to say and are very convincing, preying on people’s fears of this very thing, of being conned out of their hard-earned money.

“Please share this important advice with your friends, your family and your neighbours and make sure they know what to do if contacted.

“Police would never call you and ask you to withdraw money to be collected by an officer nor would they ask you to transfer money into a different bank account.

“If you have any concerns about the legitimacy of the call please contact Suffolk police, ideally via another phone line or other method, to verify the details of the officer provided in the call.

“If you have elderly or vulnerable neighbours, friends or family, I would ask you to inform them of this guidance and to check with someone they trust if contacted in a similar manner.”

Millions of pounds are lost each year to these scams.

Suffolk Constabulary has created an animated video to try and make people aware of the dangers of courier fraud, the signs to look out for and how you can protect yourself, your family and your friends.

Between April 2024 and March 2025 there were 43 reports of courier fraud offences in Suffolk.

In total victims lost £364,763, with an average loss of £8,482.