On 9 September 2026, Derbyshire Police issued a warning after scammers targeted vulnerable and elderly residents in Belper and Alfreton. Callers claimed to be bank staff saying a card needed to be collected because of a problem with the account, and in at least one case persuaded an elderly victim to send a substantial sum through the post. A second tactic saw fraudsters pose as police officers investigating a crime, claiming to have found the victim's identity documents and asking for money or a bank card to be handed to a courier — even telling victims to call 999 to 'verify' them while staying on the line. Police were clear: they will never contact you to request banking information or ask for funds to help an investigation.
Why this particular scam works on isolated older people
These scams aren't crude — they're built around urgency, authority, and isolation. A caller claiming to be a bank or the police creates pressure to act immediately, before there's time to check the story with anyone else. That's precisely why they're most effective against someone who's on their own when the call comes in, without a second person in the house to say 'that doesn't sound right' or to suggest hanging up and calling the bank back on a known number. Isolation isn't incidental to how these scams work — it's part of what makes them work.
What Derbyshire Police want residents to know
- Genuine bank staff will never ask you to hand over a card, PIN or banking details to a courier or over the phone
- The police will never ask you to transfer money or hand over a bank card as part of an investigation
- If a caller tells you to stay on the line while you call 999 or your bank to 'verify' them, hang up and call back independently on a number you already have — the line may not have actually disconnected
- Report suspicious calls to Derbyshire Police on 101 or via their website, even if you didn't lose money
Where regular companion visits genuinely help
Kirk Group Care isn't a security or fraud-prevention service — we're a non-clinical companionship service, and we want to be clear about that. But a consistent weekly companion visit does something practical here that occasional phone calls don't: it puts a second, trusted person into an older person's week who can notice if something's off. A companion who visits regularly gets to know the normal rhythm of a household — and is well placed to notice if their client seems unusually anxious, mentions an odd phone call, or has a story that doesn't quite add up. That's not a formal safeguarding role, but it is a genuine, practical benefit of not being entirely on your own.
"The scam calls in Belper and Alfreton worked because the people on the other end of the phone were alone when they picked up. That's not a criticism of anyone — it's exactly the gap a regular, trusted visitor helps close."
A simple conversation to have this week
If you have a relative in Belper, Alfreton, or anywhere else in Derbyshire, this is a good week to have a direct, non-alarming conversation: remind them banks and police never ask for card details or money transfers by phone, agree that they'll always hang up and call a family member or a known number before acting on any urgent request for money, and make sure they know who to call — family, us, or 101 — if something feels off. None of that requires a crisis to justify it. A five-minute conversation now is worth far more than dealing with the aftermath.
Consistent company, an extra pair of eyes
Kirk Group Care provides non-clinical companion visits across Derby and Derbyshire — regular, familiar faces who get to know your relative's normal routine.
Published by Kirk Group Editorial
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