Over £100 million worth of fraud — often targeting vulnerable and elderly customers — has been prevented through a UK-wide scheme that enables bank branch staff to spot potential fraud victims and request an immediate police response.

The latest figures from UK Finance reveal that 353 calls have been made through the rapid response scheme to West Mercia Police since its launch in the region in 2017 with an average of £5,806.44 of fraud being prevented per call. The initiative has led to the arrest of 16 suspected fraudsters across our policing areas with the total value of £2,049,672 being prevented from being defrauded from customer’s accounts.

Detective Sergeant Jon Cooper from the West Mercia Police Economic Crime Unit said: “We know that the public are more likely to be a victim of fraud than any other type of crime, so a whole system change is in order to tackle the scourge of fraud, bring perpetrators to justice and reclaim the money taken for those defrauded.

“While we have made a significant impact on organised crime groups targeting our elderly relatives and friends I would encourage everyone to please be aware of the scams that can be very convincing and to please remember that the police will never contact you to discuss your money, bank accounts or ask you to withdraw money and give it to a courier.

"If you or someone you know has either been a vcitim of one of these telephone scams or any fraud or attempted fraud, report it immediately to Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.police.uk or 0300 123 2040 or the police by calling 101."