Victims of the police car con
On April 28 my wife and I were driving across Spain in our own vehicle with a GB registration.
While passing through Madrid on the busy five-lane main road, the vehicle behind caught my attention as a plain-clothed driver and passenger held a card up to their window.
I move over a lane and as they came alongside they displayed a warrant saying they were police and for me to follow them, which I did to the side of the carriageway.
They asked me to produce my passport and take it to them in their car where they verified it on their mobile phone before returning it.
The passenger was now wearing a Spanish police SWAT-type cap with a Spanish badge and police logo. They asked if I was armed, I was not.
They said a petrol station had reported my number for passing forged American dollars. As we only had English and Euros as money I presented my wallet and the petrol receipt to prove we had paid cash in Euros.
They checked and returned them, accepted the story (advising us not to wear our jewellery openly when stopping to re-fuel) and allowed us to continue.
Some two hours later I discovered there was 680 Euros missing from my wallet.
I am not sure how violent these two "policemen" could have been had I become aware of the robbery at the time and challenged them, but in future I would not pull over for an unmarked police car with no more than a "Police" card in the window.
On reflection and for information to other readers, additional clues to the bogus cover were:
1 The police card read in English and not Spanish.
2 They did not leave their car.
3 They did not remove their seat belts.
4 The "passport check" was done on a mobile phone and not a radio.
5 Other than the hat, they offered no form of identity to me, as I now know plain-clothed police would.
6 I do not think Spain would accept American dollars at a petrol garage.
I do not consider myself a gullible person and only offer the information to assist other readers to avoid falling for the same scam.
I have since received a full refund from my holiday insurance company, Fortis.
J J Tate, The Smithfields, Newport.
