Surrey Police have issued a warning to the local community after three Egham residents fell victim to a bank card scam on Wednesday, 4 January. Two residents are known to have lost £300 and £500 after being targeted by fraudsters who posed as couriers representing high street banks.

A police spokesman explained that the frauds were conducted over two stages. In the first, the conmen phoned their targets posing as bank representatives in order to acquire the resident’s PIN number. They would then inform the target that they required a new card, sending a “courier” to collect it. Two residents handed over their card and details, while the third avoided the fraud after calling their bank.

One of the victims was able to provide a description of the fraudster, describing him as “a black man, aged in his late 20s, around 5ft 6ins tall, with short dark hair. He was wearing a black and blue coloured waterproof jacket and dark trousers.”

Detective Constable Richard Warr, of the Cross Border Investigations Team, said: “We had a spate of incidents last year, particularly in the east Surrey area, in which this scam was used to obtain bank cards from pensioners. Although these recent incidents have occurred in the Egham area, it is important that everyone is aware of the tactics used by these con-artists so they can make sure their more vulnerable and elderly neighbours, family and friends know what they should do to protect themselves.” He emphasised that a bank or building society will never ask a customer to divulge their personal information, and especially their PIN, over the phone.

It is not known whether these incidents are linked in any way with the card skimming device found installed in an ATM machine on Egham High Street in December. Surrey Police are urging anyone who saw someone matching the suspect’s description to contact them using the number 101, quoting reference RM/12/49.