A man has been charged in connection with a range of fraudulent schemes, including the impersonation of police officers.
Since the turn of the year, a number of banking scams have been reported to police across the country, but primarily within the Central Belt.
Lanarkshire towns Motherwell and Blantyre were two of 15 across Scotland – from Ayr to Aberfeldy – where incidents took place, with more than £300,000 being defrauded from victims.
Between October 2021 and January 2022, more than 30 reports have been received from members of the public, who have either been visited or contacted by individuals claiming to be Police Scotland officers.
On each occasion, the victim was contacted by telephone from someone claiming to be from a bank fraud department and advised that their bank account had been compromised.
They were then requested to either transfer money remotely to another account online or attend at a bank and remove cash, which would later be collected by a police officer.
While not every attempt to extort money was successful, those responsible defrauded a number of victims across the country, including Lanarkshire.
A major investigation was launched by Police Scotland and as a result, a search was carried out at an address in Queensland Drive, Glasgow, last Thursday, March 31, and a man was arrested.
The 24-year-old appeared at Stirling Sheriff Court on Friday.
Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Lindsay said: “Our inquiries into these offences are continuing and I would urge all members of the public to remain vigilant of these sort of scams and report any suspicious phone calls or approaches they receive from anyone claiming to be from Police Scotland.”
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