Police release CCTV to help ongoing fraud investigation

Officers have today (4th April) released CCTV images of a man they’d like to speak to in relation to an on going fraud investigation.

The incident is reported to have happened on 11^th January at Longton Medical Centre, Rainhill when a staff member reported that her purse was stolen.

Following this, someone impersonating the victim’s bank is reported to have called her stating that her card had been used nearby. Trusting the caller, she then handed over her personal identification number. Unfortunately, the caller had lied and was not her bank which consequently resulted in the fraudsters using the victim’s card to spend £16,000 on clothing and jewellery.

Officers are now appealing to the public for their help to identify the man from CCTV as they believe they could have vital information to help us find the culprits.

Inspector Vicky Holden said: “This is an unfortunate incident which has resulted in a large financial loss. The person responsible has impersonated a credible organisation whilst taking advantage of the victims trust for their own gain.

“Scammers are very clever and can manipulate their victims – we want to make sure that this sort of incident doesn’t happen again, so please, if you have any information about this incident in particular or a similar incident, get in touch.

“Anyone with information is urged to DM @MerPolCC or call 101 quoting: 19100014034.”

If you would like guidance on how to prevent fraud, please visit our website here.