Police Impersonation Fraud - Petersfield - Hampshire & Isle of Wight Country Watch

Police Impersonation Fraud - Petersfield

Evening all,

Just wanted to alert you to the following; over the last 24hours we have had two reports of Police impersonation fraud in the Petersfield area whereby unknown person(s) have contacted local residents by telephone claiming to be from Petersfield Police Station. Suspect provides False ID over the phone including a collar number. The suspect claims that fraudulent activity has occurred on the victim’s bank cards. On both occasions no money has been lost and no personal details have been provided. If you’ve experienced police impersonation fraud, read our advice and learn how to get support. You can also report it to us online, by phone, or in person.

What police impersonation fraud is:

Police impersonation fraud is when someone pretends to be a police officer to trick you into giving them:

money

personal details

something else they want

This can happen over the phone, email, or in person.

How to report police impersonation fraud:

If you want to tell us about police impersonation fraud, you can report it online https://www.hampshire.police.uk/ro/report/fo/v1/fraud/ , by phone using either 101 or 999 in an emergency, or in person.

Signs of police impersonation fraud:

We will never ask you:

for your bank card PIN number

for online banking login details

to transfer money from your account

to withdraw cash

to buy foreign currency

to give cash or bank cards to anyone

to pay a fine or fee to us or a third-party over the phone or online

to memorise lines to say if bank staff ask you questions

to enter your personal details into an attachment or a website sent to you

for remote access to your phone, computer, or other devices

to keep contact with us a secret

If someone claims to be a police officer, but you feel uncomfortable, stop talking to the person.

You can contact us to check if the officer or enquiry is real. You can then go back to speaking to the person, or we’ll arrange a time to call you back.

For more information use the following link https://www.hampshire.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us-beta/contact-us/report-crime-incident-suspicion/

What to do if police impersonation fraud happens:

If you want to check a police officer is legitimate, you can:

take the officer’s name and shoulder number

call 101 to check the officer is legitimate

If you’re asked to help with an investigation, you can check it’s legitimate by:

asking for a crime reference number

call 101 to check the request is legitimate

If police impersonation fraud happens, you can report it:

to us online: https://www.hampshire.police.uk/ro/report/fo/v1/fraud/ or by calling: 101

For further advice about fraud and cybercrime click on the following link; https://www.hampshire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/fa/fraud/useful-contacts-for-fraud-cyber-crime-advice/

#PCSOHook

#ButserNPT

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Message Sent By
Darryl Hook
(Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, PCSO, Butser)