North Yorkshire Police have issued a warning over gold bullion conmen who have cheated victims out of nearly £500,000.

The conmen claim to be police and that they need the victim to help them catch "fraudsters" whom they claim could be targeting the victim's bank accounts.

They urge the victim to purchase large amounts of gold bullion to support the "police" investigation and direct them to give the bullion to a "courier" who will keep the gold safe until the "police" have caught the "fraudsters".

The conmen have struck twice in the last month, cheating the victims out of a total of nearly £500,000.

Head of North Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit, Detective Inspector Jon Hodgeon said: “Although we have come across this type of what’s known as ‘courier fraud’ in the past, it’s highly unusual to see two incidents in such a small time frame and with substantial amounts of money being lost.

“Courier fraud is unfortunately very common, but this added step of persuading the victims to purchase large amounts of gold bullion gives great cause for concern.

“The scammers invest a lot of time and effort in doing everything they can to present themselves as legitimate, ringing from different phone numbers and posing as other members of the police force to add credibility to their elaborate story.

“You might read this and think that you would never fall victim to a scam of this nature, but you cannot underestimate how manipulative and extremely clever these scammers can be.

“Please remember, the police or your bank will NEVER contact you and ask you to move or transfer money. We will never ask you to lie to your bank or your family and we will certainly never ask you to purchase gold bullion.

“If you receive a call like this, hang up immediately. If you are ever worried about any calls you receive speak to a family member, friend, your bank or ring the police.”