A ‘COURIER fraudster’ was foiled when they found themselves unknowingly talking directly to police in Wellington.

Their target victim was quick-witted enough to walk into Wellington Police Station with the criminal talking on speakerphone on their mobile device.

It meant officers were able to listen to the fraudster saying how he wanted them to take money out of their bank account and hand it to a courier who would call round later.

Wellington neighbourhood police Sgt Jon O’Connor related the pre-Christmas incident to town councillors at their monthly meeting.

Sgt O’Connor said: “Courier fraud is where somebody will contact a victim by telephone purporting to be from the police or their bank to make them aware of a supposed fraud on their account.

“They will then explain that as part of the investigation they require the victim to withdraw money which will be collected by a courier on the promise that it will be used as evidence and returned at a later date.

“Thankfully, in this instance, the would-be victim made some diligent inquiries with the force for which the fraudster claimed to be working.

“Along with my own team at Wellington, we successfully prevented any money being lost.”

Sgt O’Connor said officers had found it ‘interesting’ to listen to the criminal’s script and how they had tried to use terms which sounded like police jargon to make themselves sound authentic.

He said: “This serves as a timely reminder that if you feel something is suspicious, it is always worth calling any organisation back on their main number to check the validity of the call.”

Sgt O’Connor said it had otherwise been relatively peaceful in Wellington in the run up to and across the festive period, with a combination of high-visibility patrols in the town centre and Operation Limit drink-drive checks at strategic points.

He said this was reflected in the December crime figures which did not show any significant spikes in crime types.

A rise in public order offences in December was mostly down to one person committing multiple offences in a single day in the town centre, for which they were arrested and charged.

Sgt O’Connor said police dealt with 3,719 incidents on the Wellington town beat alone during 2025 which amounted to roughly 10 calls for help per day through the year, as well as carrying out more than 1,000 criminal investigations.

He said: “In addition, and something that cannot necessarily be measured, are the hours of proactive patrols, community engagement, reassurance visits, and the wider safeguarding work we have conducted on behalf of other agencies.

“Neighbourhood policing is all about problem-solving and partnership working, so we will continue to strengthen our working relationships with partner agencies in a bid to reduce crime and make our communities feel safer.”

Sgt O’Connor said the force was mapping out community engagement events and seeking opportunities to work with an ever-increasing list of partners in 2026.

He had also been asked to help train a new group of volunteer street pastors for the Wellington team.