ELDERLY people in Wyre Forest are being warned to be on their guard after conmen posing as police officers duped a pensioner out of £4,500.

A 79-year-old Cookley woman has been left distraught after falling for the con in which she was asked to withdraw the money from her bank and hand it over to offenders claiming to be from Manchester police.

A second pensioner, from Kidderminster, almost fell for a similar scam which would have seen her lose around £2,500 of her savings.

Inspector Jake Wright, of Wyre Forest Safer Neighbourhood Team, said the scam involves conmen or women calling landline numbers of elderly residents purporting to be officers, bank workers or other official bodies.

They then tell the victim they are investigating fraudulent activity with their bank accounts, adding to ensure their cash is safe they must withdraw it. They then ask them to place it under a plant pot, doormat or arrange collections from the property.

To make it believable, they give reference numbers or other numbers to call where another offender is on the line pretending to be from ‘head office’.

Insp Wright added that, worryingly, in some cases they know the victim’s address well as they will ask them to leave cash at a specific location unique to the property.

On Thursday (July 12), the 79-year-old victim was told her details had been shared by Kidderminster Police and a young black man, wearing a black suit, went to her house claiming to be a driver for the bank.

He took the money at around 5.30pm promising to pay it back the next day.

Insp Wright said: “This has devastated the lady in question, who remains confused about whether the call from ‘police’ was genuine or not.

“The offence prays on the trust and confidence the elderly have in the police and there will be far more who are embarrassed that they’ve lost thousands and won’t be reporting it to police or family.”

In the second incident, the Kidderminster woman withdrew £2,500 from her bank and went to change it into Euros, as requested. But, fortunately the currency exchange worker was not in and she couldn’t do so.

Fearing she was being scammed, the woman contacted the police who confirmed the con.

Investigations into such scams form part of Operation Prospero and Insp Wright added: “The message we’ve been trying to get out far and wide is that the police, banks or any other reputable organisation will never ask anyone to handover money.

“We will never call anyone and ask them to withdraw money. Your bank or building society is the safest place for your money.

“If anyone is concerned the may be being targeted they need to hang up immediately and call police they can even call our local personal mobile numbers to seek advice.”