Scam victims recover £2million with Nottinghamshire Police support

Scam victims have recovered more than £2million with help from Nottinghamshire Police’s fraud and cyber teams.

A total of 143 victims were reimbursed last year with Protect officers helping them submit claims to their banks, which have a duty of care to protect customers from fraud and cybercrime.

In some instances, the officers also helped victims take their cases to the Financial Ombudsman Service — a level of support beyond their job remit.

Fraud victims recovered £1,407,998 in 2024 after being supported by Nottinghamshire Police, while cybercrime victims were reimbursed £645,177.

It is also estimated at least £950k in losses were prevented through advice and assistance provided to people who called the police after suspecting they were being targeted.

Meanwhile, both teams have helped thousands of people protect themselves from criminals by hosting engagement days at colleges, universities, libraries and cafes throughout the year.

A further 1,350 people were directly spoken to or visited by Protect officers after falling victim to a fraudster.

Kirsty Jackson, a Cyber Protect and Prevent Officer within the force’s Cyber Crime Unit, said: “I’ve always loved this part of my work, it’s equally important to me being in a position where I can provide support to victims in this way and compete this recovery process as a team with them.

“Recovering losses is usually something a victim knows nothing about so our guidance becomes a lifeline to someone impacted in this way. It’s not always about the money either, as it also becomes part of their own personal wellbeing journey too.

“Knowing they have tried to get their money back by doing all they can and having someone listen and support them, is sometimes all a victim needs to help them recover mentally from what can be a mixed if negative emotions when scammed. In fact, getting their money back is generally an added bonus for me and the victims we help.”

Among the victims helped by the Protect officers was a bride-to-be from Rushcliffe who was scammed out of £7,850 by a bogus wedding planner, an elderly couple from Mansfield who recovered £28,845 after they fell victim to a sophisticated courier fraud scam, and a Retford pensioner who’d lost his life savings in an investment scam and was supported to regain more than £80,000 from his bank.

Cheryl Meadon, a fraud triage assistant, said a key aspect of her role was providing important advice to scam victims whenever they reach out to the police for help.

She said: “When we speak to people who have been scammed, many believe the money is gone and that there is no chance of them being recompensed.

“At that point, their emotions are understandably at a really heightened state and so they wouldn’t have thought about submitting an indemnity claim if it wasn’t for the advice we’re able to give them on the phone there and then.

“It feels great whenever we’re able to help someone in their hour of need.”

Guidance on how to protect yourself from scams is available on the force’s website.