Cruel scammers took £36,000 from pensioner

HEXHAM pensioner handed over £36,000 to scammers after receiving a phone call from someone pretending to be a police officer.

- SAM VOLPE

Northumbria Police detectives have now issued a stark warning - and said they had received a total of 18 reports of fraud in the Northumberland area this week.

Members of the public have been told to be vigilant. Only one person is thus far understood to have handed over cash as a result of the scam. Police officers said this was a Hexham woman in her 80s who had been told over the phone that detectives were carrying out an undercover fraud operation.

A cold caller told her to withdraw the cash from her bank in a series of withdrawals, before then using it to buy euros. A courier then collected the cash.

She then received a further phone call and was told that the investigation was over and a person had been arrested. They added that she should await another call to arrange for her to get the cash back.