Warning following police impersonation scams in Chesterfield

We are urging residents to stay vigilant against scammers pretending police officers, following recent phone calls made to people in the Chesterfield and north east Derbyshire areas.

Three residents contacted us to report the bogus phone calls on Friday 4 August.

The calls involved someone calling them out of the blue and falsely claiming to be a police officer called Sergeant Daniel Wiggins.

During the calls the scammer was attempting to set up secure lines and find out details from the victims, asking if they had their cards, and for personal information.

In one case they provided a false crime number, and in another said they had arrested someone called Mr Nash who has their details in his pocket.

Scams like these can also sometimes see them tell lies such as they are an officer claiming to be investigating a fraud case or that a relative is in custody.

They’ll give different names or say they’re from different police stations, but their aim will always be to convince the victim to part with their money, personal information or belongings.

Fortunately, in each of these cases details were not provided.

PC Louise Rodger, one of our fraud protect officers, said: “We’re urging residents to remain cautious and to remember to stop, think and tell.

“You should never share personal or financial information with cold callers, even if they claim to be police officers.”

PC Rodger added “We'd also appreciate it if people could share this message with their friends and family, in particular with any older or potentially vulnerable relatives and neighbours, to ensure they know how to best protect themselves from these types of schemes.”

"We are urging residents to remain cautious and refrain from sharing personal or financial information with cold callers,

We’re currently raising awareness of this type of crime with our ‘Sock It To The Scammers’ campaign, and the first of a series of videos has been launched featuring a pink sock puppet named Claude.

If you haven’t yet seen Claude, you can watch the video below, or find out more about our campaign here: Pink puppet pops up with fraud tips to help ‘Sock It To The Scammers’ | Derbyshire Constabulary

To avoid becoming a victim of a police impersonation scam, remember:

• Police will never call out of the blue, request secure lines or personal information. They’ll never ask you to transfer money to another account, hand over cash or bank cards to a courier, or a pay a fine or fee over the phone. If someone asks you to do this, it's a scam.
• If an officer contacts you in person, they will show you their warrant card. This is proof of their identify and authority.

If someone has called you and you are unsure if they are a genuine police officer, you can hang up and call police on 101 to check their identity. It is recommended you wait at least five minutes before you call, as there have been cases of fraudsters keeping the line open after a victim has hung up.

You can find further information on how to check an officer's identify here: How to check an officer's identity | Derbyshire Constabulary

If you think you've been approached or contacted by a scammer, you can report it by contacting us on the details below, or to Action Fraud, the national reporting centre, online at www.actionfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040:

• Website – We have crime reporting tools on our website: use our online contact form
• Facebook – send us private message to the Derbyshire Constabulary Facebook page
• Twitter – direct message our contact centre via @DerPolContact
• Phone – call us on 101

You can also anonymously contact the independent charity CrimeStoppers, on 0800 555 111, or by visiting the CrimeStoppers website