Suspected Scammers Arrested In Belfast City Centre

Two people have been arrested in Belfast city centre after police officers witnessed what they believed to be scammers and intervened.

Officers on patrol in the city centre saw a man hand over a large sum of cash to a man and woman at an ATM in the Donegall Square East area on Wednesday, 08 May. Believing the man and woman to be acting suspiciously, the officers stopped and questioned the three people and discovered that the couple had claimed that they had lost their bank card and asked the man to withdraw a sum of cash for them. In return, the man provided his bank details and they sent him a screenshot of what appeared to be a transfer to his account. Believing the screenshot to be fake, the sum of cash was returned to the man, and the 40-year-old man and 24-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation. They remain in police custody at this time.

Following the arrests, Sergeant Rooney said: "We have reason to believe that there may have been a number of similar incidents recently, and as such would appeal to anyone who may have been asked to give cash to a person unknown to them in suspicious circumstances to contact police, quoting reference number 2164 0f 08/05/24.

"I would also like to remind the public not to give cash to anyone they do not know, no matter how convincing their story may seem. Unfortunately, scammers will prey on the generosity of the community. If anyone is in genuine trouble because of a lost or forgotten bank card, they can always contact the police for help.

"If you feel someone is trying to coerce you into giving them money, please contact us on 101, or 999 in an emergency."