Jewellery stores and taxis urged to help protect vulnerable people from courier fraud

Jewellery stores and taxi firms are being targeted by Wiltshire Police to raise awareness of Courier Fraud.

Last year in Wiltshire there were 25 cases of Courier Fraud resulting in the loss of £155,230. Courier Fraud involves criminals impersonating police officers, bank officials, or other trusted figures to deceive victims into believing their bank accounts have been compromised or that they must assist with a police investigation.

Victims are then encouraged to withdraw money or purchase high-value items, which they are instructed to hand over to a courier under false assurances of reimbursement.

Officers are this week visiting taxi firms and jewellers across the county to educate them on how fraudsters manipulate victims into purchasing jewellery, gold bullion, and watches.

Between February and May 2025, 417 reports of Courier Fraud have been identified across the South West, 44 of which involved the purchase or handover of gold or jewellery. The total reported losses during this period amounted to £2,865,727, with gold being the most requested item, followed by watches.

Taxi services are often used to facilitate fraud, whether it involves transporting the victim to a store or collecting a package on behalf of someone else and delivering it to the victim’s home. 

In August 2024, a couple from Salisbury was defrauded out of £350,000 after being contacted by someone claiming to be a police officer. They were spoken to by someone claiming to be a Metropolitan Police Detective. He told them they had arrested someone in possession of bank cards in their names, and they needed the couple's help to work undercover with police to catch the fraudster.

The victims were instructed to purchase first £100,000 worth of watches and then, when this failed, gold bullion which was delivered to the couple's address on three separate occasions. Someone dressed as a postman attended their address each day to collect the gold. The victims were promised that the money would be reimbursed by the government.

The fraudster offered the victims methods to ‘verify’ their identity, including getting the victim to call the police directly to confirm the details, but stayed on the line so the phone reconnected to them.

They also received additional calls, pretending to be from their bank, to further legitimise the crime.

Detective Constable Fraud Protect Officer, Rachel Davies, said: “We’re seeing consistent cases of courier fraud around the county in a variety of locations and unfortunately the victims are often the elderly. This is such a nasty crime which can have devastating psychological effects and significant financial loss.

“Many victims live alone and suffer age-related illnesses, so we’d like families, friends and neighbours to keep vigilant and help protect any vulnerable people in their lives. Fraudsters prey on elderly people by cold calling landlines or posing as police officers and bank officials. We need to get the message out we’d never cold call or ask anyone to share bank details or move assets to aid investigations or for any other reason.

“If you’ve been called by someone claiming to be from the police, you can always hang up and call back on 101 to check the veracity of the call.

“If you suspect you’ve been a victim of courier fraud, report it to Action Fraud by visiting actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 1232040.

“If you’ve revealed your bank details or handed over your card to a courier, call your bank straight away to cancel the card.”