According to police sources, the scam begins with an email that appears to come from someone the recipient recognizes, such as a boss or housing association chairman, but is actually sent by a fraudster. In the email, fraudsters state they need help buying gift cards and then instruct the recipient to send the gift card codes. Andreas Jonasson, a crime analyst at the police coordination in the East region, explained, 'They ask you for help buying a number of gift cards and sending the gift card codes via email.
' Jonasson noted that fraudsters are often in a hurry, say they are going into a meeting, and request contact only via email. Police Region East describes it as a new type of fraud method. In the last two weeks, there have been about 20 reports of scam emails in Police Region East.
The reports involve both completed crimes and attempted crimes. There are cases where people who fell for the scam emails lost several thousand kronor. However, there is no statistics for how many have been affected.
It often affects people who want to help and be kind.
Jonasson stated, 'We know that it occurs nationally, people across the country have received this type of email. ' He further said, 'But it is probably many more. ' The crimes are difficult to investigate because they occur via email, and there is a dark figure of unreported cases.
The police do not know for sure how fraudsters obtain email details to impersonate known individuals. Jonasson commented on the evolution of fraud, saying, 'For 15 years ago we had cash-in-transit robberies, robberies of post offices today the handling of cash is completely different which means that type of crime does not occur. ' According to Jonasson, fraudsters have a new modus.
In a separate incident, fraudsters tricked a man into buying £2,000 worth of gift cards by pretending to be from two different police forces. The victim, from Stafford, was conned into transferring the codes to the cards so they could be used. Scammers made two different phone calls to convince the man, with one caller claiming to be from Staffordshire Police and another purporting to be from the Metropolitan Police.
We know that it occurs nationally, people across the country have received this type of email. The reports that have come in in Region East involve both completed crimes and attempted crimes, and we know that the dark figure is large.
The incident on Friday, March 6, prompted a warning about the 'elaborate, very convincing and cruel' scam. It is advised that no bank, government department, or police force will ask for bank details or cash to be transferred in secret or purchase items like gift cards on their behalf. Fraudsters often target the vulnerable and the elderly.
Fraudsters could use apps that make phone calls appear to be coming from the number of their choice, often disguised as legitimate organisations like the police or banks. To prevent falling victim, the authority advises always calling the person the request appears to come from on a number you have or look up on your own. Never follow the instructions in the message.
' The exact number of people affected by these scam emails nationally or globally remains unknown, and it is unclear whether there are any arrests or investigations leading to the perpetrators.