A CIRENCESTER pensioner was conned out of thousands by a man purporting to be a policeman based at Hammersmith station.

Gloucestershire Police are now investigating a series of elaborate fraud scams, targeting elderly victims in Cirencester and Stroud.

One of the incidents happened on Friday afternoon and saw a 79 year-old victim from Cirencester hand over £5,000.

In all cases, the fraudsters, pretending to be DC Daniels and DC Clark from Hammersmith Police Station, called elderly residents trying to trick them out of money.

They asked the victim to assist in a "covert police operation" which involved the victim withdrawing cash from their bank account. The fraudsters then told the victims that the cash was counterfeit; and then sent over a "police courier" to collect the cash.

Gloucestershire police have received eight similar reports over the last five days, all from residents of Stroud and Cirencester.

A fraud officer from Gloucestershire Police said: "The police will never ask you to hand over cash, bank cards, or other items.

"If you receive a call like this, hang up straight away and use a different phone to contact the police on 101 to report the incident.

"If you don't have access to another telephone, contact a friend or relative first, to ensure that the fraudster has not stayed on the line."

Information can also be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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