Fraudsters have been targeting external post boxes in villages to order credit cards and have goods delivered.
Cheshire police are urging residents to be aware of a scam where fraudsters are rifling through people’s external mailboxes, ordering credit cards and purchasing expensive items with the money.
The force has received a steady rise in reports of these types of incidents from residents in the Kingsley and Tarvin areas, who received parcels they knew nothing about.
One resident returned home to find a card from a parcel company saying he had missed a delivery. He subsequently discovered that camera and audio equipment totalling about £9,000 had been ordered on a credit card registered in his name.
Fraudsters try to collect items at the sorting office
One fraudster tried to collect the fraudulently obtained goods via the sorting office, but vigilant staff were suspicious and did not give away the parcel. Residents are being urged to check bank statements, credit card bills, money going missing and look out for post office delivery cards they are not expecting.
PC Martin Walsh from Cheshire police who is leading the investigation, said: “These offenders are stealing mail from residents’ post boxes and then attempting to obtain credit cards using the said identity.
“They then return to the property a few days later and attempt to retrieve the delivered credit card from the post box. Police are appealing for anyone who has seen any suspicious black BMW 1 type cars containing black males.Police have a positive line of enquiry but need the public’s assistance to establish whether there any further victims or witnesses to help our enquiries”
For further information visit the Cheshire Police website.
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To report a fraud and receive a police crime reference number, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use our online fraud reporting tool.
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