Fraud attempt in Brae

Businesses are being urged to be on their guard after an attempted fraud in Brae.

Police were made aware of a “ringing the changes” type scam attempt that occurred on Tuesday morning.

It involved a woman in her 30s asking for various different amounts of change in an attempt to con the cashier into handing over more money than was being exchanged.

The fraud attempt failed but police want to trace the woman involved.

She is said to be about 5ft 5ins, average build with long blonde hair that was bunched on top of her head. She was wearing a white fleece top and leopard print pyjama bottoms.

Ringing the changes offences typically involve a person asking a member of staff to change a large sum of money into notes of smaller denominations or an exchange of currency. The fraudster then deliberately distracts or confuses the staff member in order to obtain more money than they started with.

Sergeant Martyn Brill said: “This is an unusual incident for Shetland and we are keen to make sure that businesses are aware of these tactics and on their guard against this type of approach.

“It is always better to be safe than sorry so if you have concerns please contact police on 101 rather than going through with the transaction.”

Anyone with information should contact Lerwick police on 101, quoting reference NL3413/17, or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.