RESIDENTS are being warned to be on their guard after reports of fraudsters impersonating police officers.

North Yorkshire Police say that in recent days they have received reports of phone calls being made by scammers pretending to be police.

Andy Fox the police, financial abuse safeguarding officer for North Yorkshire said: "The intended victim is called by someone claiming to be a police officer. A name used in two recent calls was DC Thomas Daniels from Paddington Police Station informing the victim that they had arrested a person in London using the victim's bank card.

"The victim is instructed to go to their bank and withdraw all their money from their account. They are told a police officer will attend their home address to collect the money once it has been withdrawn for safekeeping. The victim is told to lie to the bank if they are challenged as to why they are wanting to withdraw such a large quantity in cash.
This is of course a scam and one we have seen many times in North Yorkshire."

He said the advice to residents remains that the police or bank will never ask you to withdraw or transfer money to a 'safe' account set up by the police or bank.

He said: "If you are ever told to lie to the bank as to why you are doing a particular transaction, it is a scam.

"Criminals can 'spoof' telephone numbers so the number that appears on your phone could be the same number that is on your bank card.

"If you are in doubt, terminate the call immediately and call 101."