A man pretending to be a police officer has forced his way into a home while his accomplice made off with a “significant amount” of money.
The suspect holding a walkie-talkie knocked on a door near Lugton Road in Dunlop East Ayrshire, on Friday, and when the 53-year-old resident answered the man pushed his way into the property and told him he was a police officer.
Police Scotland said that when the victim was distracted, a second suspect made his way into the house and made off with items from inside.
Detective Inspector Stuart Dougan, of Ayrshire CID, said the victim was not injured, but “a significant amount of money was taken, and it is vital we trace those responsible”.
The first suspect has been described as a man wearing scruffy clothes and carrying what looked like a radio or walkie-talkie.
The second man was around 5ft 5in tall, wearing a black tracksuit, hat and trainers, and coloured worker-style gloves.
Detectives said they are believed to have been using a vehicle, possibly a BMW 1 series.
Mr Dougan said: “These incidents are rare, however the fact that one of the suspects impersonated a police officer is concerning.
“We want to stress that if you receive a visit from police, please do ask for the officer’s details and which they department they work for.
“We began a national rollout of new identification cards, which feature an up-to-date picture of the officer, along with other key information and various security enhancements that make them extremely difficult to replicate.
“This rollout was started in October 2021 and all police officers should be able to provide this identification when carrying out legitimate police business.”
Police Scotland said anyone with information or dashcam footage from the area can contact them on 101, quoting incident number 4002 of Friday February 11.
