COPS are continuing to warn people after more pensioners feel prey to fraudsters at the weekend.

On Tuesday a 76-year-old man, from Cartmel Fell, was called by someone claiming to be from the Metropolitan Police. 

He was told he needed to transfer money and that he should not contact local police. He was advised to hang up and dial a different number to confirm, which he did and spoke to a woman. 

Police say in this case the transaction would not go through and he contacted his bank security.

Yesterday an 86-year-old woman from Hawcoat in Barrow was called by someone saying he was called Sergeant Reynolds from New Scotland Yard. 

She was told they had someone in custody for using her card and she had to transfer money to them. She was told to transfer the money and not to tell anyone. She transferred more than £13,000. She was told the money would be returned to her the following day.

Last Friday a 79-year-old woman was phoned by a man claiming to be an officer from the Special Branch, who stated there was an issue with her bank account and convinced her to transfer £5,600 into another account. 

He told her not to make any contact with anyone in relation to this. Fortunately the transaction was stopped by the bank. 

On the Saturday a 89-year-old man was called by someone saying they were from Scotland Yard, and asked him to transfer £7,340 to a different account, which he did. 

During the call the victim spoke to a male and a female. 

This follows two similar incidents earlier in the week.

An 81-year-old woman was called on her home phone last Tuesday afternoon by a man claiming to be from Scotland Yard Police. 

The man told the victim that her bank was subject to a scam and that her money was not safe in her account. 

The woman was instructed to go to the bank and withdraw £5,100. This money was then collected from the victim’s home address by a male. 

Last Wednesday an elderly couple were also called by a man purporting to be a police officer from Scotland Yard and claiming to be investigating money laundering and bank fraud at their bank. 

The man instructed the 88-year-old female to withdraw £9,400 claiming it is not safe in the bank and instructed the 73-year-old male victim to transfer £5,420 into a bank account named by the male. 

He later attended the property to collect the money but the female refused to hand it to him. 

The suspect male attending the house in the incident on Wednesday (27th) has been described as Asian ethnicity, approx 5`10, with a trimmed beard, wearing a woolly hat, casual clothes and an olive green coat. 

Inspector Matt Pearman said: “These criminals are continuing to target the elderly in the Barrow area and are managing to scam the elderly out of thousands of pounds. 

“Again in these latest incidents they have claimed to be from the police and given information including a name, collar number, warrant ID and crime reference. 

“In some of these cases the male has persuaded the victim to call 999 to verify these details, but the man stayed on the phone keeping the line live and used a female accomplice to pretend the victim had got through to the police. 

“Unfortunately there are people out there who will attempt to gain money fraudulently and target the community. I strongly advise anyone who receives calls like this to hang up immediately and do not provide any personal details. The police would never ask you to hand over or transfer money. 

“If you are ever unsure if a call from the police is genuine, ask for the person’s name and collar number then hang up. Using a different phone if possible, as like in this case the caller may still be linked to yours, dial 101 and ask for that specific person – if they are genuine, the Communications Centre will be able to put you through to them. “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 advice, please contact Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.org.uk or contact the Action Fraud Hotline on 0300 123 2040. To report a crime, contact Cumbria Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. ​​​