Wiltshire Police is issuing a warning after incidents of fraud in the town

A warning has been issued after nine reports of a scam involving people posing as police officers to commit fraud.

Wiltshire Police received nine reports of Courier fraud in six days from Salisbury residents.

The scammer is pretending to be from the “Flying Squad, The Met Police or Bourne Hill Police Station”, officers said.

Anyone receiving calls of this nature is told to hang up immediately.

Scammers will often contact victims by phone, pretending to be a police officer or bank clerk, to say that money has been taken out of their account by mistake.

The caller will then suggest the victim withdraw a large amount of cash, which will then be picked up by a courier to “check fingerprints or identify counterfeit notes”.

Alternatively, the victim may be asked to package the money in cash and mail it to an address provided by the fraudster.

In the last six days, the police received nine notifications of this type of incident

Police remind the public that banks and the police will never call and ask for personal details or PIN checks.

Inspector Tina Osborn, from the Salisbury Borough Squad, said: “These fraudsters can be very persuasive and can use a variety of tactics to get you to withdraw cash, transfer money or hand over bank cards.

“It is very important that people remain vigilant against these cold-hearted murders. Bank accounts can be emptied in minutes and life savings lost.

“This puts enormous stress on families and destroys people’s lives.”

“Victims are usually elderly, as in these cases, and we urge anyone who has an elderly relative, loved one, friend or associate to report this type of scam.”

“We have an increasing number of victims who have been emotionally manipulated into lowering their defenses,” she added.

She also discussed a recent case where a fraudster targeted a 90-year-old woman in a phone call that lasted more than four hours.

Anyone who has given their bank details over the phone or handed the card to a courier is advised to cancel the card immediately.