Police issue CCTV image of man they wish to speak to in connection with high value fraud

CCTV image of a man police wish to speak to in connection with a string of high-value frauds

A CCTV image of a man Greater Manchester Police wish to speak to in connection with a string of high-value frauds has been released.

Between 10 September 2015 and 7 October 2015, two victims reported a total of £112,000 being fraudulently taken from their accounts via a series of withdrawals and purchases.

Before both frauds took place, Barclays Bank took calls from men purporting to be the two existing customers, requesting new debit cards, a credit card and pin numbers for each.

The offenders passed all security questions and the new cards and pin numbers were sent out via post.

Over the course of several hours on 22 September 2015, five withdrawals of £4,850 were taken from one of the customers’ accounts at branches around Greater Manchester.

Between 4 October 2015 and 6 October 2015, 22 withdrawals totalling £92,700 were taken from the second victim’s account at a number of branches across Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

On 7 October 2015, the man pictured in the attached photograph walked into Goldsmith’s jewellers in the Trafford Centre and attempted to buy a watch worth £26,400 using one of the victim’s cards.

This transaction was declined.

Detective Sergeant David Henshall said: “Both victims have now been reimbursed by the bank, meaning that Barclays is now the victim of this crime, but that should take nothing away from the severity of the fraud, which has seen two innocent people have their identities stolen and their accounts hacked. There was a total disregard for their privacy and their personal property, with the fraudsters taking a close look at each victim’s financial statements before extracting as much money as possible from each.

“We are very keen to speak to the man pictured in Goldsmiths, who attempted to buy a watch with one of the stolen cards. If you know who this man is, please contact police and help us bring those responsible for this high value fraud to justice.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0161 856 3221, or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.