AN ELDERLY man was defrauded out of £10,000 by a scammer purporting to be a bank representative.

On Monday, May 30, Dorset Police was contacted by a representative from a bank in Derby who reported suspicious fraudulent activity on an elderly man’s bank account.

Enquiries revealed that the victim was contacted in early April this year by someone purporting to be from the bank, who claimed that there had been suspicious activity on his account.

The victim was told he needed to send his bank card and PIN number to an address in Bournemouth. He sent his card and PIN number and between Thursday April 21 and Tuesday May 3 money was taken from the account.

The elderly victim was contacted again and was told he needed to withdraw money from his stock and shares and post it to them, which he did.

In total around £10,000 was stolen from the account.

Officers investigating the reported courier fraud offence in Bournemouth have issued a CCTV image of a man they would like to speak to in connection.

Financial investigator Chris Thorne, of Dorset Police, said: “As part of our enquiries we have obtained an image of a man we would like to identify and I would urge anyone who knows who he is to please contact Dorset Police.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk/contact, via email 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting occurrence number 55220086075.

Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling Freephone 0800 555 111.