An elderly Letchworth resident has lost £63,000 in a scam involving a bogus call from a "police detective".

The resident, in their 90s, lost the money "following a call from a bogus detective from Hammersmith Police", Hertfordshire Constabulary revealed.

The incident is part of wider scams across the county that have seen people frauded out of a total of more than £100,000.

The residents were contacted via phone by someone claiming to be a police officer, investigating fraudulent activity on the victim’s bank account.

The fraudsters then ask their victims to withdraw cash and post it, or pass it to a courier arranged by the scammer.

Some victims were persuaded to hand over banking details allowing the fraudsters to gain access to the bank accounts and transfer the money.

The scammers use a variety of stories to convince their victims and methods to ‘prove’ they are genuine, even telling the victims to call 999 to check their identity.

"This is one of the most common scams and the fraudsters tend to target older residents, all of those targeted over the last week were aged 70 or over," said Senior Beacon Fraud Hub manager, Elaine Crate.

"If you have elderly or vulnerable friends or relatives speak to them about this scam so they aren’t fooled.

"Fraudsters use different stories to convince people they are genuine, the important thing to remember is that police officers or bank staff would never ask for people’s bank details, like a PIN, or for cash to be handed over. 

"You should never give your bank details to anyone. Usually, the intended victim realises the call is not genuine and refuses to part with their details or cash.

"However, these fraudsters can be very persuasive and insistent, which has resulted in some people falling victim to this scam and subsequently losing thousands of pounds from their accounts."