Police are urging the public to be cautious of a man posing as council worker to check water pressure in the Auckland suburb of Glen Eden.
An elderly woman was at home last Friday when a nicely dressed, Caucasian man with a high-vis vest, blonde hair and around 40 years old approached her house around 2:30pm.
After being welcomed into the house, the man asked the lady to go and turn all the taps on in the house before taking down her landline number and leaving.
Ten minutes later, the woman received a call from a blocked number, by a man posing as a police officer who had just caught somebody with her wallet. He prompted her to give over her pin number so he could close her bank accounts. The woman refused and hung up, and then noticed her wallet had been taken.
Police Constable Heber Gasu says police will never ask anybody to disclose their pin numbers, and to automatically dismiss this as a hoax if it happens.
“Carrying out a trick like this, particularly on an elderly person, is just downright rotten," Const Gasu says.
Police are asking the public to stay vigilant and report any suspicious activity on (09) 213 8062 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111
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