NORTH Wales police is warning shoppers to be on the lookout for a new scam that sees criminals posing as police officers.

Fraudsters are contacting members of the public, usually by phone, purporting to be from the police, or in some cases the fraud team within their bank.

The criminals claim they are investigating a fraud at a local bank branch where staff are suspected of being complicit, including issuing fake bank notes, and ask their target to help in the operation.

As part of the scam, the individual is requested to visit the branch and withdraw a substantial sum, often thousands of pounds, of the supposedly counterfeit cash to hand over to the ‘police’ for ‘analysis’.

The victim is assured that the money will be deposited back into their account after the operation is complete.

However, once the money is passed over the fraudsters disappear with the cash.

The criminals instructs their victim not to discuss the case with anyone in the branch, giving them plausible explanations as to why they are withdrawing the money. As a result, despite being questioned by the bank staff, the victim takes out the cash, convinced that the staff are part of a fraud.

In another version of the scam, the criminals convince the victim to transfer money to a so-called ‘safe account’ to protect their funds from the ‘corrupt’ bank staff. However, the account is in fact controlled by the criminals.

All customers are reminded that the police and banks will never ask members of the public to become part of an anti-fraud operation or to transfer money to a ‘safe account’ for fraud reasons.

If you receive a telephone call from someone asking you to withdraw money from your accounts, end the call immediately and report the incident to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or online at www.actionfraud.police.uk