POLICE in Cumbria are continuing to warn residents about the rise in telephone scams in the county, particularly scams targeting the elderly.

Information has been received relating to bogus scam callers who have been purporting to be from HM Revenue & Customs and have been targeting individuals in the south and west of the county.

In one case a potential victim had numerous calls from an automated service claiming to be from HMRC asking for money. After immediately hanging up, they called again this time leaving a voicemail asking to call them back. The potential victim has then directly called the genuine HMRC which has confirmed this type of call is a scam and is not something they would do.

Luckily on this occasion the caller did not receive any money as the potential victim realised this was an odd call to receive and reported it to the police.

Police advise people to ignore or hang up on calls of this nature. They also advise to be wary that they may ring back immediately following been hung up on and police ask that this be simply ignored.

Read the full story about last week's scam HERE

Inspector Jon Sherlock, Community Safety Unit, said: “There has been a rise in bogus scam callers lately who have been attempting to gain money fraudulently. I would strongly advise anyone who receives calls like this to hang up immediately and get in touch with the police. 

"A tactic often used is to make you believe that the money in your bank account is in jeopardy if you don’t act straight away. In these circumstances, hang up and contact your bank immediately who will provide the reassurance you need.

"Never give out your password or personal details over the telephone, a financial institution will never ask for this.

“As many victims of this type of scam are elderly, I’d also like to ask anyone with elderly relatives, neighbours or friends, to make sure they are aware that this is happening in their area and what to do if they are called by these criminals.”

For more advice, please contact Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.org.uk or contact the Action Fraud Hotline on 0300 123 2040.