Bogus callers: a national campaign

Burglars who trick their way into houses and target the elderly and vulnerable are the targets of a new national police campaign.

‘Not Sure? Don’t Open The Door’ is the message at the heart of Operation Liberal’s public awareness campaign against distraction burglars. The campaign, sponsored by the Energy Retail Association (ERA), aims to make people aware of the tactics used by distraction burglars, and how they can prevent themselves from becoming potential victims.

A distraction burglary is defined as where one or more offenders trick or distract an occupant in order to gain entry to the premises before committing burglary. Deputy Chief Constable Peter Goodman, who is the DCC for collaboration in the East Midlands and the Association of Chief Police Officer’s Lead for Operation Liberal says:

“This type of crime is despicable; victims of distraction burglary can suffer terribly both emotionally and physically. When you consider the average age of a victim is 81, you can understand why many suffer a decline in health afterwards, and why it can seriously affect their trust and faith in people afterwards.

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General advice, General warnings |

General warning to Facebook users

A number of people have warned us about a new scam aimed at anyone with a Facebook account. The account-holder is sent an email which appears to come from Facebook, saying that someone has applied to be their friend. The email looks exactly the same as any Facebook email, and includes a link to what appears to be the Facebook login screen.

It is in fact a spoof website designed to capture personal information, and is known as ‘phishing’. The scam is typically used to capture bank account login information – by presenting a login screen that is an exact copy of an internet banking log-in screen.

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General advice, General warnings |

General warning: telephone scams

During March 2010, a Kirby Bellars resident was telephoned, supposedly from Google, and told that the speed of broadband in his area area was slow. The resident was asked to switch on his computer and a technician would talk him through some steps in order to rectify the problem.

Fortunately the resident declined the offer and the caller became evasive before the call was ended. Entering code on a PC – or on a downloaded programme – can enable external providers to take control of your computer in order to investigate and fix a problem.
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General warnings |

Distraction burglary

On 3 March two white males visited an elderly female resident at her home in Orston stating words to the effect; “You need to get out of the house, there’s going to be an explosion.”

They then entered the premises turned on all the downstairs taps, searched cupboards and took a metal box that contained money. They then left.

The victim – who is 90 years of age and deaf – was very upset by their actions and unfortunately unable to give any description of the offenders. A neighbour realised something was amiss reported the matter to the police.

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General advice, General warnings |

Bogus callers warning

Within the last 24 hours there have been three incidents in our area which have warranted police attention:

1. Two males in fire brigade uniform, and using a fire brigade van which was stolen from Notts yesterday, have been knocking door to door asking residents what valuables they would like rescuing in the event of a fire.

This is not a legitimate call and needs to be reported to the police immediately on 0116 222 2222.

2. Two males have been knocking at doors in Scalford but run away when the householder answers

3. Suspicious damage to a door has been reported from a property in Belvoir.

All suspicious activity by persons or vehicles should be reported IMMEDIATELY to Leicestershire Constabulary on 0116 222 2222

Belvoir, Bottesford, Scalford |

Crimes update: Melton rural north

This crimes update was issued today by Hugh Crouch, Community Initiatives Coordinator at Melton Police HQ.

There were two house burglaries on 26th January – both targeting large, flat-screen TVs. One incident occurred at Grimston, and the other in Croxton Kerrial.

Outbuildings have been either tampered with, or broken into, at Bottesford on the 28th January, and Redmile on the 29th.

18 batteries (car, lorry and tractor types) were stolen from the West End area of Long Clawson just after 7am this morning.

On Sunday afternoon a vehicle parked on the Knipton Road near to Belvoir Castle was broken into and items stolen.

Anyone with information on any of these crimes is asked to call Leicestershire Constabulary on 0116 222 22 22.

General information, General warnings |

Add your views on local policing

Leicestershire Constabulary is asking residents for their views on local area policing. Click here to complete the Force’s on-line survey.

General information |

Have you seen this van?

Melton Police have just issued this request for information:

Please can I ask you to report any recent sighting or future sights of a Silver Ford Transit? It has a registration starting S and ending in OOV – so that would be S___OOV. We understand that it has been seen near to a number of suspicious incidents. Please call Leicestershire Constabulary on 0116 222 22 22 with details.

General information |

Police issue warning to all motorists

A man claiming to be a police officer stopped a woman motorist near Orston after flashing his lights at her to pull over. Now police are warning motorists not to stop if other cars flash their lights at them after the incident, which happened in Bottesford Lane, Orston, at around 6.50pm last Thursday (21 January).

The woman, who was driving from Scarrington to Bottesford, pulled over and the man got out of his car and walked up to her vehicle. He claimed he was a police officer but could not produce any identification, so the woman drove off.

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General advice, General warnings |

Suspicious vehicle warning

A message just received from Hugh Crouch at Melton Police:

Just a quick message to let you know that we have a new vehicle in the vale which has been seen acting in a suspicious manner: A GREEN RANGEROVER DISPLAYING N828GKH. If seen, please let Leicestershire Constabulary know on 0116 222 2222.

Plus there has been a 4×4 stolen in Melton Mowbray via a break to a home for the keys of the vehicle. Vehicle was a Nissan Navara. Grey on a 58 plate. Please keep your keys safe.

General warnings |

Waltham: cold-caller warning

A number of people reported two cold-callers in Waltham this afternoon selling dish cloths, and presenting bogus identity cards. One was described as black, about 20 years old, and around 5ft 11ins tall.

One resident said: “When I didn’t answer the door quickly enough for his liking, he started shouting outside – perhaps as a way of establishing whether the property was indeed unoccupied?”

When the resident refused to look at his wares, the caller was said to have “muttered curses under his breath as he retreated up the path”. He added: “It does reinforce the case for establishing ‘no cold-calling zones’ in the village, particularly when you consider the elderly and vulnerable – who would be easy prey for characters like this.”

Local Beat Managers, PC Mark Longden and PC Darryl Cunnington stress that residents shouldn’t purchase items from cold-callers, and ask that we should let them know when cold-callers start knocking on doors. Although they may be completely innocent, thefts have occurred following such visits in the past. The number to call is 0116 222 2222.

Click here for detailed advice on how to deal with cold-callers.

General warnings, Waltham on the Wolds |

Melton Mowbray: rural crimes update

Issued by Hugh Crouch, Community Initiatives Co-ordinator at Melton Police HQ on the 17th December 2009.

There were a number of incidents in the rural areas of Melton Mowbray which all took place on the 17th and 18th December:

Burglaries: There were four incidents in the last week – at Gaddesby, Hose, Long Clawson and Rotherby.

Theft of Fuel: There have been two incidents of red diesel being stolen; at Wymondham (500 litres) and at Somerby (300 litres).

Turkeys: Six turkeys were stolen from a location between Pickwell and Somerby. The owner states that the birds would be six years old – making them less than ideal for the dinner table!

If you have any information on the above incidents, please call Leicestershire Constabulary on 0116 222 2222 with details.

Hose, Long Clawson, Wymondham |

Melton Mowbray: rural crimes update

A crime update for the rural areas of Melton Mowbray, issued by Hugh Crouch, Community Initiatives Co-ordinator at Melton Police HQ on the 17th December 2009.

Thank you
Firstly, a huge thank you for all your calls regarding suspicious vehicles and visitors. These are providing fantastic intelligence for us, so please keep the information coming!

Security
With regards to crime prevention, please remember to keep your house secure – even when there are people in the home. There have been a number of recent incidents of intruders entering properties when residents were inside.

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General warnings, Melton Mowbray, Old Dalby, Uncategorized |

Melton rural areas: scrap metal merchants

There have been a number of incidents in recent days of scrap metal merchants knocking on doors. If they don’t get an answer, they have been reported entering back gardens. In Waltham, a group were challenged by a local farmer when he found them going through a skip on someone else’s property.

Hugh Crouch from Melton Police is also warning that there has been an increase in the amount of copper cable being stolen from remote locations – particularly around the Redmile area.

Please call Leicestershire Constabulary on 0116 222 2222 to report any suspicious activity.

Croxton Kerrial, General warnings, Redmile, Waltham on the Wolds |

Knipton: house burglary

Information from Leicestershire Constabulary:

There was a burglary to a home in the Pasture Lane area of Knipton between 15:00hrs of the 23rd November and 08:30hrs today (24th November).

Did you see any suspicious activity in the area? If so please call Leicestershire Constabulary on 0116 222 22 22 and quote OIS 116 24/11/09

Knipton |