Three fraudsters have been jailed after they pretended to be police officers to con money out of people.
The sophisticated courier fraud scam began in London with the group placing multiple cold calls to landlines of people living in Cumbria.
The calls were made between September 22 and September 26 2024.
The fraudsters would identify themselves as a police officer and that they were investigating fraudulent activity on the victim’s bank card.
In the complex scam the victims found themselves in lengthy contact with the fraudsters who isolated the victims from family and friends, them into withdrawing thousands of pounds in cash.
At Carlisle Crown Court yesterday, the scammers were sentenced for their crimes.
- Bilal Akhther, 40, of no fixed abode, was charged with conspiring to steal from another and was sentenced to three years and one month.
- Luliana Nicolae, 24, of no fixed abode, was charged with conspiring to steal from another and was sentenced for seven months.
- Muhammed Shahzeb, 20, of Stenson Road, Derby, was charged with conspiring to steal from another, theft – other – including theft by finding and possess shotgun without a certificate and was sentenced to two years.
There were four victims who withdrew over £46,000 with over half of that handed over to fraudsters.
Another four victims were also identified who did not hand cash to the fraudsters.
During one incident on September 23 2024 officers from Cumbria police intercepted the victim before he was approached by the courier to hand over cash.
They also coerced one of the victims to handover his firearms and licence.
On September 25 2024, officers arrested Akhter and Nicolae when their vehicle was stopped driving from a victim’s address.
On September 26 2024, officers arrested Shahzeb in Derbyshire.
A phone seized from Shahzeb found communication between Nicolae and Akhter. The phone was also in Carlisle at the time the victim’s meeting was with the couriers to hand over cash.
The investigation found the four were working together as part of an organised crime group targeting vulnerable individuals for their gain in a complex courier fraud scam.
Detective Inspector Jamie Eaton, from Cumbria police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “This was a complex scam which seen the fraudsters gain the victims trust into believing they were police officers.
“To do this they encourage the victims to call 999 to verify their identity but unknowingly the fraudsters kept the line open and had another fraudster lined up to confirm their identity.
“Sadly, due to the convincing nature of these criminals’ victims have fallen for this scam.
“We would to take this opportunity to remind the public that police officers will never call you out of the blue requesting to meet to collect cash or ask you to transfer money to an account.
“I would urge anyone who received a call from someone claiming to be an officer and you are unsure if its genuine to hang up, and contact us on another phone to verify as fraudsters can say on the lines after you’ve hung up.”
