Police ask 'do you recognise Ehsan Jalali?'

A con man who tricked his victim into thinking he was a policeman and then a courier has been given a suspended sentence.

Police are appealing for anyone else who may have been been contacted by Ehsan Jalali to get in touch.

The 22 year old from Henderson Close, Neasden, phoned a man in Ealing claiming he was a policeman and told him that he had arrested two men with his cloned credit card.

The victim, was told to hand his card to a courier as it would be needed as evidence.

Five minutes later, Jalali turned up wearing a high visibility jacket, and collected the card.

The victim then received another phone call from Jalali asking for the man’s other credit card details.

The victim became suspicious, called the police and, when Jalali arrived for the second time the man managed to stall him until real police officers could make an arrest.

Detective Constable Talat Taj, of Ealing Police, said: “Unfortunately, despite publicity around the different methods of courier fraud, this crime is still occurring usually targeting the most vulnerable members of our society.

“Police will never send a so-called ‘courier’ to collect bank or credit cards under any circumstances. So if anyone receives a call of this nature, hang up immediately and call police on 101 from a different telephone line, as the caller may still be on the line, or 999 if the crime is in action.

“If anyone recognises Jalali from his picture and have handed over bank or credit cards to him, please contact police on 101.”

Jalali pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation at Harrow Crown Court on Septemebr 22 and was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for a year, and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and attend a four-day restorative justice activity course.

4th December 2014