Kumasi, Nov 30, GNA- The Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Frank Adu-Poku, has cautioned the public to be careful of confident tricksters otherwise known as '419', especially during the Christmas festivities.

Briefing the media in Kumasi, he advised the public, especially those whose relatives live abroad and would be expecting monies and gifts from them to be vigilant since the tricksters had special phones which show private numbers like those of international calls.

ACP Adu-Poku said the police had received reports about the activities of these fraudsters and had arrested some of them. He said the fraudsters used their specialised phones to call their victims to inform them that their relatives abroad had remitted them and that they should arrange a meeting to collect their monies. He said the fraudsters would then inform their victims to bring along certain amount of money to defray some of the expenses and other charges on the money.

ACP Adu-Poku said the police recently arrested five persons who had neatly packed sachet water in a suitcase in an attempt to present it to their victim as 50,000 dollars, which had been sent by a friend in the Netherlands and demanded six million cedis as charges.

He said the victim became suspicious of the dealing and informed the police who laid ambush and arrested them.

The Regional Police Commander mentioned their names as Kwame Manu, Gordon Akwasi Prempeh, Pious Kwame Manu, Patrick Owusu Yeboah and Oppong Kyekyeku.