Shropshire has been hit by a number or purse thefts from hospitals, doctors surgeries and council offices, police said today.

Officers are now warning people never to give details over the phone after victims received phone calls from the offenders claiming to be from their bank. Police said the callers claimed there had been unusual activity in the person’s account and asked for them to confirm security details.

This then allowed the offenders to use the nearest cash machine to withdraw money from the victims’ account.

The incidents happened at a number of places of work, and none of the victims knew their purse or wallet had been stolen at the time of the phone call.

Constable Ben Oakley from Shrewsbury Police Station said while such incidents remained rare, there had been a number reported to police in the past few weeks.

Plausible

“These offences usually involve more than one offender, who are often well dressed, well spoken and sound plausible so do not immediately arouse suspicion,” he said.

“Those who enter the premises to steal the items may pretend to be on their phone or too busy to speak and confirm their details in order to discourage anyone from challenging them.

“Likewise, the second offender who calls often sounds very credible but we would stress that a genuine bank or building society would never ask you to confirm your details from a cold call. If they have called you then they already know who you are.

“No bank will ever ask you to confirm your PIN. Never, ever give out any banking information or confirm any of your personal details to a cold caller.

“These few small measures can both help prevent an offence from happening in the first place and help identify offenders.

“These offences amount to theft, fraud and even in some cases identity theft. But by being alert to the scam and not giving offenders the access and information they need, people can help us deal with them.”

For more information about personal security visit www.westmercia.police.uk and click on the active pages.

By John Kirk