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Horsham Weekly Bulletin
Alert message sent 08/09/2020 11:57:00
Information sent on behalf of Sussex Police
Tuesday 8th September 2020
Crime summary
Burglary – There are no burglary to dwellings to report this week.
Burglary other than Dwelling
Reference: 0334 1st September
Location: Nuthurst Street, Nuthurst
Date and time: Between 24th and 31st August
Details: Various tools were stolen from 2 sheds.
News and appeals
Police warn of courier fraud rise in Sussex
Police are warning residents to be wary of unsolicited phone calls after seeing a rise in reports of courier fraud across Sussex.
Courier fraud is where fraudsters call victims pretending to be from police, a bank, or another trusted organisation and request money or information. Typically, the caller persuades the victim to withdraw a sum of money or disclose personal details such as a PIN number. A courier is then sent to collect it.
In July and August Sussex Police received 91 reports of courier fraud relating to vulnerable victims. There were 25 cases where losses were recorded, totalling £243.035. Fortunately the majority of victims reported the fraud to police after realising they were being scammed or Banking Protocol was instigated to protect the victim from losing money.
On 13 August, police received a report that a 76-year-old woman in Horsham was called by a man pretending to be from her bank. She was asked to urgently attend a branch in Redhill as she had supposedly been the victim of fraud. When she said she couldn't attend, he arranged for a courier to come and collect her card and asked for her PIN number. Two ATM withdrawals of £500 were made in Crawley.
PC Bernadette Lawrie, Financial Safeguarding Officer for Sussex and Surrey Police said: "Sadly, this is a typical example of the way criminals will prey on the elderly to steal their money. Courier fraud often specifically targets the vulnerable by exploiting their trust in the police and their bank.
"Courier fraudsters are nearly always part of wider criminal gangs who can be incredibly convincing and persuasive. It can be particularly intimidating for older people when scammers turn up on a victim’s doorstep and they may feel under pressure to comply with requests.
"We would urge residents to be particularly vigilant about unsolicited calls at the moment. You can help by encouraging older and vulnerable members of the community to double check people are who they say they are. Never feel pressure to make a decision on the spot - if in doubt, hang up the phone or shut the door. The police and your bank will never ask you to transfer money and will not ask for your PIN or banking password.
"We understand some victims may feel frightened or embarrassed following courier fraud and may not want to talk about it. We're asking anyone who has experienced this sort of crime to report it to Action Fraud or police so it can be investigated."
You can do your bit to prevent courier fraud by checking on elderly friends, relatives and neighbours, and making sure they know what to look out for.
Please remember: The police and your bank will never
Phone and ask you for your full PIN or full banking password
Blue lights leaders condemn assaults on staff
The leaders of police, fire and ambulance services across Sussex have come together to condemn a steep rise in assaults against emergency workers.
Sussex Police Chief Constable Jo Shiner described the trend as ‘completely unacceptable’.
It comes as a national report is published with a wide-ranging set of recommendations around police officer and staff safety.
Chief Constable Jo Shiner said: "Police officers have experienced a rise in assaults over the last few months, but I was shocked to hear from colleagues in the ambulance service of more than a dozen incidents of serious assaults on paramedics over the summer - and that was just in Brighton. This is completely unacceptable.
"It can't be right that the very people dedicating their lives to saving others are increasingly coming under attack or when people think sharing videos of this is the right course of action. For communities to be protected, we must stand together to protect our frontline. Assaults on police, fire and ambulance workers, and indeed other public sector workers doing their job, will simply not be tolerated."
Vacancies at Sussex Police Media Team Sussex Police are looking for a News & Media Supervisor and a News & Media Officer to join its lovely team of 9 – could this be you or is a friend of colleague looking for a new challenge? Apply by Wed 9 September.
Why Sussex I hear you say?
Well now, we’re not quite the shire county everyone thinks we are. We might not have Surrey’s annual Epsom Derby, or have the motorway infrastructure of Kent, or the forests of Hampshire but we have plenty to keep our media team busy. Firstly, there’s Gatwick airport, remember the unremarkable drone of matter of Christmas 2018? Then there’s around 90 miles of coastline including the sandy beaches of West Wittering and Camber Sands attracting lockdown avoiders in their droves. There’s the annual Lewes bonfire which sees a small town of 16k swell by 80k for a night of loud and bright firework celebrations (not one for the kids)! We have a ferry port too, not one to rival Dover but you can get to France all the same! There’s the mighty M23 (our only motorway) where in lockdown an Audi Rs6 driver filmed themselves doing 200mph (yes, we did charge two people). And then there’s dazzling and diverse city of Brighton which plays host annually to Brighton Pride (many of us tried and failed to get tickets to see Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears), there’s the major political party conferences, Brighton marathon, three universities, hundreds of pubs, a fair few protests and the occasional criminal rascal. We don’t think you will be bored and our lovely team of 10 with an age range from 23 – 70 are a welcoming and friendly group.
For more information on these posts please see our website under jobs. https://www.sussex.police.uk/news/sussex/news/news/Vacancies-in-Sussex-Police-Media-Team/?u=media Help us keep Sussex safe
If you saw or heard anything, or have any information about any incident in this message please contact us online, email us at 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk or call 101, quoting the reference number provided.
Alternatively you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111, or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org
Links and attachments: Sussex Police will only ever link you to secure Websites we trust. We will only send you attachments where we believe it is absolutely necessary.
Message sent by
Janice Brown (Police, Prevention Support & Engagement Officer, Sussex)
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