WILTSHIRE Police have issued a warning about a telephone scam aiming to con elderly people out of thousands of pounds.

An 82-year-old Salisbury woman received a call from a man alleging to be a Metropolitan police officer on May 9.

He told her the force had two people in custody who had used her accounts to fraudulently spend £3,000 and tried to convince her to withdraw money and send it to him in a taxi in order to catch bank staff suspected of being involved in the scam.

A 93-year-old woman from Amesbury received a similar call the following day. This time the man said he was a police officer and wanted to know how much cash she had in the house.

DS Mike Standing of Wiltshire Police said: “The bogus officer was very persuasive and even told the victim to hang up the phone, dial 999 and speak to an operator to confirm his identity. It is believed he merely stayed on the line.

“It is important that the community are aware of these scams and pass the information on to elderly relative, friends and neighbours as these fraudsters often target the elderly.”

For more information regarding similar scams contact Action Fraud on 0300 1232040. Fraud can also be reported on this number.