Police are urging caution after five reported incidents of courier fraud in Epsom and Leatherhead involving a man who impersonated an officer.

The offences took place between Friday, October 8 and Monday October 18, and the victims are estimated to have lost a combined total of over £25,000.

The victims were all called via their landline phones by a man who referred to himself as DC Matthew Phillip or Matthew Phillips from the Epsom Fraud Team.

He then went on to tell them that there was some fraudulent activity at their bank, on their account, or suspicious activity at a foreign money exchange, and asked the victims to withdraw some money.

Having won their trust, he was able to specify how much money, which denominations he wanted it in, and to instruct them to hand it over to a courier or even to the suspect in person.

Surrey Police do not have an officer by the name of Matthew Phillip or Matthew Phillips. Police will also never ask for your bank details or ask you to withdraw money and hand it over to anyone.

The suspect has been described as an ‘olive-skinned’ man of Mediterranean appearance. He is thought to be in his early 20’s, about 5 ft10 in height and very thin.

He has short dark hair and dark eyes and was wearing black or blue ‘Beats-style’ headphones and a black tracksuit with thick white stripes down the side.