Elderly people are being urged to be careful after scammers targeted the age group by pretending to be police officers.

Police say a number of incidents happened in south Norfolk on Wednesday, November 3, in which the scammers cold called at homes and urged elderly people to withdraw large sums of money.

The first incident happened at St Mary's Drive in Diss at about 11am and saw a victim taken to the bank. No money was handed over.

In Pulham Market at 12pm another attempt was made but the scammer was told to leave.

At Waveney Heights in Brockdish, at about 12.30pm, a third attempt was made and the fraudster was once again asked to leave.

Following the incidents police have told families they will never be asked to withdraw money by officers offered the following advice.

  • Your bank or the police will never ask for your PIN, bank card or bank account details over the phone – never give these details to anybody.
  • Neither the police nor the banks will send a courier to collect money from you.
  • Always request Photo ID and if unsure call the police.
  • If you're asked to telephone a bank, then always do it on a different phone to the one you were contacted on.
  • Fraudsters will keep the line open and have been known to play ringtones, hold music and a recorded message down the phone so the victim believes they are making a call to a legitimate number. Ensure you can hear a dialling tone before calling police or use a friend or neighbour's telephone instead.
  • Do not rush into complying to the scammers demands / requests.
  • If you have already given your bank details over the phone or handed your card details to a courier, call you bank straight away to cancel the card.

Those who think they have been approached by a scammer should contact Norfolk Police on 101 quoting Operation Radium.