Crime Alert - Bogus Policemen - distraction burglaries

Over the last two Friday evenings there have been a total of 5 burglaries in the Longton area involving criminals claiming to be police officers. There were two last Friday and three the week before.

Please advise any elderly residents in your scheme to be aware. There were common elements in the offences. The victims were elderly- often in their late 80's. The houses were not clearly the homes of elderly persons - e.g. by being in a row of elderly persons bungalows. This suggests that the houses may have been picked out in the past. (men with Irish sounding accents had cleaned the roof of one of the houses).

The offenders have a distinct story. They claim to be police officers who have arrested someone for burglary and to have recovered a large sum of cash. They ask the householder if they have been burgled. When the householder says no, they then show a wad of banknotes and ask the householder to check - no doubt hoping that the householder will lead the offenders to any cash that they may have at home.