Residents on a Larkfield estate have been targeted by scam

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Residents on a Larkfield estate have been targeted by identity fraud thieves in a postal scam

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Homeowners on an estate have warned others to be aware after their personal details were stolen by fraudsters for a postal scam.

Ray Haffenden of Ingram Close, Larkfield, raised the alarm when details for a Lloyds TSB account were sent to the family’s home just two days after their post box had been tampered with.

The account had been fraudulently set-up in Mr Haffenden’s 22-year-old daughter’s name.

He first became suspicious on Thursday April 2 when he discovered his letter box had been stuffed with newspaper, which he removed before going out.

When the 69-year-old returned, he found the box, which is in a communal area only accessed by intercom or a key, had been forced open.

Two days later, a letter arrived for his daughter Katherine, who is currently living at university, welcoming her to the bank.

It contained a debit card and a note to say the pin would follow shortly.

Later that day, the post box was broken into again.

Mr Haffenden said: “At first, we didn’t connect the letter with the damage but then it clicked. I noticed at least 10 other letter boxes in our block had been tampered with.

“When we spoke to the bank, they had already taken out the account’s £1,000 overdraft.”

The homeowner said £6,000 was withdrawn from an account set up in his neighbour’s name.

Last Friday, another person who lives on the same estate, off Bellingham Way, said her husband found several letters had been posted to them, containing confirmation of new bank accounts with large overdrafts, bank cards and PIN numbers.

On the same day, someone put their hands through the couple’s cat flap, scrabbling around for the post.

The pair shared details of the offence on Streetlife, an online forum, as well as photographs of one of the alleged offenders and a black Vauxhall that they believe was used as a getaway car.

Other website users were quick to respond, with one person, who lives in Abery Drive, saying a similar incident happened to them around a year ago.

Mr Haffenden added: “It’s obviously part of a much wider scam.”

Police are investigating, and ask anyone with information to call officers on 101.