PENSIONERS have been urged to be on their guard after a string of attempted frauds in the Romsey area.

Officers are investigating scams involving fraudsters claiming to be police officers, often from 'Hammersmith Police', before trying to obtain bank details and cash using bogus telephone calls and couriers.

Incidents have been reported involving an 81-year-old man in Wellow, an 85-year old in Braishfield, an 87 year old in Ampfield and an 88 year old in Sherfield English.

And on Friday, August 15, a 70-year-old man from Wellow withdrew £10,000 from his bank account and gave the cash to a taxi driver for delivery to an address in London.

Inspector Jackie Willson from Hampshire Police said: “We're investigating a series of frauds concentrated on elderly and vulnerable residents.

“The perpetrators are cold calling and purporting to be police officers investigating a financial offence involving the victims' accounts.

“They will ask for your assistance and state that the cash needs to be checked for fingerprints, DNA, or possibly that the cash is counterfeit.

“Victims are then encouraged to withdraw large amount of cash from their accounts and indicate that the bank may be complicit. Once the cash is with the victim, the perpetrators then use local taxi firms to courier the cash to London.”

Residents are reminded to protect themselves by making sure never to give out any personal information about bank accounts to anyone over the phone, always checking the identification of anyone claiming to be a police officer, and calling their bank to cancel cards if they accidentally give out any account details.

They are also asked to never hand over money to someone at the door to be sent off elsewhere, and always note the identification of anyone coming to the door claiming to be a police officer.

Police are urging anyone with information on the incidents to contact inspector Jackie Wilson or sergeant Alyson West on 101 or email romsey.snt@hampshire.pnn.police.uk.