Fraud detectives are continuing to warn people to protect their elderly loved ones after another man has fallen victim to courier fraud.

The man is the seventh victim in the county over the past fortnight, with a Blackburn woman having been scammed out of more than £13,000 last week.

Yesterday (October 14) police received a call from a man in his 80s, from Caton, Lancaster who had handed over £7,500 in cash to fraudsters who claimed to be police officers investigating fraud.

Officers stepped in and managed to prevent the victim from making a further transaction to the offenders, this time for a substantial sum of money.

The suspect first telephoned the victim on October 7 saying he was from the “fraud squad” and needed cash to be used as evidence in an investigation and was instructed the victim to withdraw £7,500 from his bank and leave it outside his front door to be collected by a ‘courier’.

Several other attempts have been made across the county but thankfully victims have either hung up the phone or confided in a relative before handing over any cash.

The message today from Lancashire Police is a simple one, we will NEVER telephone and ask you to withdraw money, purchase high value items or disclose your financial details.

DI Mark Riley of Lancashire Police Economic Crime Unit said: “These types of crimes are devastating to people’s lives and the criminals are ruthless in their attempt to defraud people of their life savings.

“In this most recent case the victim sadly did have some money stolen but I am pleased to say we managed to prevent the substantial amount of money from the second attempt from being stolen. I hope this can be a stark warning to others to speak to a relative or friend if you are being asked to do something like this. It is never going to be a genuine request.

“Please always check someone is who they say they are, anyone who is genuine will never mind waiting while you check their information. They will never rush you or try to frighten you in any way.

“If you have older relatives, friends or neighbours, please speak to them and remind them to have the confidence to put the phone down and ask for help. Criminals are experts at impersonating people and spend hours researching so they can trick you or your loved ones in to believing them and doing what they ask. But they are not real police officers.”

Enquires are ongoing, anyone with information is asked to contact 101 quoting log 347 of October 14.

Anyone who believes they have been contacted fraudulently or been a victim of fraud should call us on 101 and Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.