A WARNING has gone out to residents about a scam circulating on social media in York.

North Yorkshire Police say it is circulating on at least one local Facebook group and suggests that a woman police officer from York is earning a large some of money per month and that people think that she has a “sugar daddy” because of this.

A police spokesman said: "The article uses an image and details of a genuine officer from another police force, but describes her as being from York, to lure you into this scam. We have blurred out her face in the image we've provided to protect her identity.

"When you click on the link it takes you to what appears to be a website for the Mirror newspaper, however it is fake and has been engineered as a phishing website to get you to click on the link.

"We believe that it is specifically linked to Bitcoin, and it is possible that once you click on the link it may download a virus onto your device or steal your bank details or other personal information. Our advice is not to click on this link.

"We would also ask that if you are an admin of a local Facebook group and have seen this scam then please delete it immediately.

"Please also ensure if you are sharing posts to local Facebook groups that they are genuine and are not likely to put other members at risk of being scammed."