A TAXI driver has warned others to be vigilant after he fell victim to a conman who has left him £200 out of pocket.

Elliot Furniss

A TAXI driver has warned others to be vigilant after he fell victim to a conman who has left him £200 out of pocket.

Kim Naish through his cab firm from a man purporting to be an engineer working at a Colchester shop.

He was asked to drive to London and pick up and pay for an urgently-needed part.

The caller promised to reimburse Mr Naish upon delivery of the item and gave him an address for the collection.

However, after making the pick-up, paying £105 for the item and arriving back at the store, Mr Naish discovered he had been the victim of an elaborate fraud.

The Colchester borough councillor said: “When I went to the shop, I asked the staff but nobody knew anything. Then the manager came out and said he knew nothing whatsoever. I waited for a couple of hours, but no one came.

“I looked in the package and there was just a blank disc.”

Mr Naish, who has been driving a taxi for five years, said he tried calling the fraudster back, but was repeatedly fobbed off and was left with a large petrol bill and without the £105 he paid from his own pocket in good faith.

He said: “I presume what they have been doing is doing this to several people across the country. They only need 10 people to do this and they've got £1,000. I am well out of pocket.”

Mr Naish, 58, said when he had gone to report the crime at Colchester Police Station yesterday he found the staff “unhelpful” and said he was made to feel stupid.

He said: “The girl on the desk said 'doesn't that sound a bit suspicious?' and it was as if it was my fault. I didn't expect to be spoken to like that.”

Mr Naish said he hoped to come to an arrangement with his firm that would help cover the cost of the scam.

A police spokesman said: “A man walked into Colchester Police Station shortly before 11am on Sunday September 21 to report an allegation of fraud.

“Staff were asking questions in order to ascertain the circumstances of the incident but the man walked off half way through. He did not leave any details.”