Fraud / Deception (372)

Thames Valley Police is releasing a CCTV image of a man it would like to speak to in relation to a theft at a supermarket in Didcot.

At 3pm on Wednesday afternoon (3/3) a 31-year-old woman who was shopping at Sainsbury's in Orchard Street was allegedly followed to the checkouts by a man, who is thought to have watched her enter her PIN as she paid.

Police are reminding people to be on their guard over counterfeit currency circulating in the Norwich area.

Over the last week, reports have been made to police of counterfeit £20 notes having been handed in to shops in the west of the city including the Bowthorpe, Costessey and Earlham neighbourhoods.

A man sentenced to four years imprisonment in his absence from court is still on the run.

Kenneth Wallbank (54) formerly from Mile Oak and Tamworth was found guilty for his involvement in defrauding finance companies to obtain vehicles, fraudulent mortgages and loans at Stafford Crown Court on 19 June last year.

Scam artists stole a woman's bankcard and used it to fraudulently withdraw cash.

It happened at an Asda store on Edge Green Lane in Golborne at about 1pm on 14 November 2009.

The victim, 53, was using the self-service checkout when one of the offenders sneakily watched her enter her bankcard details into a chip-and-pin device.

Norfolk Constabulary and Norfolk Trading Standards are warning members of the public to be aware of a scam offering dogs for sale and transportation from Scotland.

The Force's Contact and Control Room has received a number of calls this week from concerned dog enthusiasts who believe they have been duped.

Police investigating a series of frauds in the north of the county are appealing for anyone who may recognise a man who is believed to have been involved a number of offences to come forward.

This man is believed to have been involved in at least two incidents in the county, one in Corby and one in Kettering.

Officers in Loughborough have released an Eigan fit image of a man they are trying to trace following the report of a distraction burglary in Durham Road.

The incident happened at about 11.20am on Friday February 26, when a man entered the victim's home, through his front door, claiming he was there to fit a new back door.

Police have issued an alert after receiving reports of scams operating via internet dating websites.

In the first incident, reported on 24 February, a woman from Kidderminster told police she had been exchanging emails for several months with someone she believed to be an American soldier.

Police in Neath Port Talbot are warning of a possible trick being used to con motorists out of money.

On Sunday 28th February a female motorist was flagged down on the A4067 near the Tesco supermarket in Pontardawe by two men who had parked up their silver vehicle in a lay-by.

Police are appealing for the public's help to trace a man wanted in connection with a large bank fraud.

Police are keen to trace Rthammed Ashraf Chowdry (25/11/1967) after fraudsters stole £263,000 from the NatWest bank in Oldham.

Rthammed is also known as Taz.

An elderly woman's medication was stolen by a woman posing as a police officer in Rochdale.

At about 8.10pm on Thursday 25 February 2010, the victim, an 81-year-old woman, answered a call at her home on Windermere Road, Middleton.

The offender told the victim she had found a bag and thought it belonged to her.

Police have released a picture of a man who is wanted in connection with several fraudulent banking transactions.

On Tuesday 26th January 2010 a bank card was stolen from the Shrubbery Hotel in Ilminster, Somerset.

It was subsequently used to withdraw cash at three branches of Nationwide in Wellington, Taunton and Bridgwater.

Eight men, have today (Friday, 26 February) been sentenced to a total of just over 19 years at Sheffield Crown Court for their part in supplying and distributing counterfeit currency across the country.

Local man Ernest Malcolm Moate was sentenced to four years and the second South Yorkshire man, Micheal Kinghorn got 16 months.

Police are warning drivers to be wary of anyone flagging them down saying they have run out of petrol following an incident near junction 14 of the M6.

At 4:20pm on Tuesday 23 February, a man was flagged down by a man standing by a black BMW.

The man said he had run out of petrol and had no money.

Police are issuing a warning to motorists not to fall for an alleged scam in which a motorist asks to borrow money from other drivers and then hands over fake jewellery as ‘security'.

There have been two reported incidents around the London Colney/St Albans area.

The first incident occurred at around midday on Sunday, January 1.