A Crime Alert for the residents of Southport from Merseyside Police

A Crime Alert for the residents of Southport from Merseyside Police.

Burglaries

In the last fortnight burglaries or attempted burglaries have taken place in the following locations:

Post Office Avenue, Lynton Drive(2), Dunbar Road, Scott Street, Lulworth Road, Curzon Road and Portland Street.

Attempted break into properties 2

Break into sheds/garages 4 resulting in 3 cycles and various tools being stolen.

Bank Scam

Last week a Sefton resident received a call on a 0345 number from a man who introduced himself by name and stated he worked for a named High Street bank Fraud Department.

The caller stated that there had been unusual transactions from various department stores for over £3000 on the recipient’s account and correctly quoted the resident’s date of birth and his mother’s maiden name, and further stated that the fraud was so large the police would be visiting him.

He was asked to go on line, as the bank would have to close his current account and get a new one with the same code but a different account number. A new debit card would be sent to him in a few days and he was even asked if he would be OK for cash in the interim. On receipt of the new card he would have to go to his local bank with two forms of ID.

When the resident stated he wasn’t happy with the arrangement, he was told to ring back on the telephone number starting with the local code 0345. When the bank answered, to press 3, speak to the operative, ask to speak to the caller by name and to quote a given reference number.

The resident complied, and the sequence on the line was similar to that of his bank. At that time he stopped the call and using a different phone rang his bank’s Fraud line which was closed, but he was put through to “ Fraud Profiling”. They confirmed that no one of the caller’s name worked in their Fraud department.

Previously the wife of the resident did have a legitimate call from the bank’s Fraud department and she had to go the bank with 2 forms of ID. As the resident stated. “The similarity in the two cases is frightening.”

News from your Local Policing Team

An 18 year old male from Southport has been arrested on suspicion of attempting theft from motor vehicle after a report to the Police of a male trying car door handles in the Meols Cop area of Southport during the hours of darkness.