Fake Covid marshals and medical professionals are trying to access people’s homes, scamming people with fines and stealing from their homes, the local police have warned. As the festive season draws close, fears increase of such scammers trying to break into Asian homes, in hopes of robbing gold jewelleries and expensive heirlooms.
The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has warned that genuine Covid marshals do not have the power to enforce social distancing or issue fines by entering into private properties.
In September, Bedfordshire Police said it was investigating reports of two men pretending to be Covid marshals in Dunstable. When the victims asked the marshals for their official identification, they could not produce any and it raised suspicion.
On the other hand, a gang of brutal gold thieves have robbed around 30 homes in Surrey since July. Many of the victims were from Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds, as these communities tend to have more gold at home for cultural reasons.
The police have warned public that that a gang of 'organised' criminals was working in the Surrey area and asked those who had gold stored in their homes to take extra precautions.
However, a recent report by the ONS has revealed that, crime has hit an all time low in the UK, except drug offences.
In the beginning of the pandemic, as many students stuck here were trying to go back to India desperately, many fell prey to social media scam, including people trying to sell them fake flight tickets at £5000.
There were others who witnessed people ‘pretending’ to help the elderly and vulnerable, while robbing them off their money.
