Police warn about phone scam that cost man £25,000

A man in his 80s paid the scammers £25,000, police said

Police in Devon and Cornwall are warning people about a phone scam which saw one elderly man hand over £25,000.

Officers said scammers pretended to be police in London warning about cloned bank cards, and asked victims to transfer money to them for safety.

The force said it had had "an increased number of calls" about such a scam over the past few weeks, particularly in the south Devon area.

Officers said people should "hang up immediately" and not give away any personal information.

Police said scammers often targeted geographical areas with older populations.

Scammers told victims that they had someone in custody who had cloned bank cards with the their details.

The victims were then asked to transfer money until the suspect was dealt with and that they would be later reimbursed.

The victim who lost £25,000 was in his 80s, police said.

Det Insp Daniel Parkinson, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "We will never contact people to ask that they transfer money from an account to aid an investigation or request banking information.

“If anyone does this get this type of request, it is a scam.”

He asked anyone with vulnerable family members or friends to make them aware of the warning.

Anyone who received such a call should hang up, wait five minutes and ensure they could hear a dial tone before calling 101, officers said.