The UK’s North Yorkshire Police have arrested a 26-year-old man for a courier fraud scam that led to two elderly victims losing over £450,000 ($600,412).
Earlier this year, authorities received reports of victims of a courier fraud scam. The scammers would call their targets pretending to be from the police, convincing them that their bank accounts were compromised. Thereafter, the scammers would ask the victims to withdraw their savings in cash and hand it over to a ‘police courier’ to keep it safe.
Recently, the scammers asked two elderly victims to purchase gold bullion with their savings and give it to the ‘couriers’. Authorities worked with the gold dealers where the victims had purchased the bullion to raise awareness of this crime. They advised other gold dealers to keep an eye out for suspicious gold sales. On November 9, authorities were alerted when a man tried to sell a bullion bar to a London-based pawnbroker. Subsequently, the authorities arrested the 26-year-old scammer and charged him with fraud and money laundering.
Source: North Yorkshire Police, UK