Fraudsters are trying a number of techniques to prey on victims using phone scams.

Police from Hertfordshire Constabulary are making the public aware to stay vigilant on the phone, by highlighting the different occasions that people have been targeted.

In Hertsmere, scammers have attempted to use more traditional methods with victims receiving calls from people pretending to be the police investigating fraudulent activity on their bank accounts.

The caller then asks for cash or bank cards to be handed over to a courier as part of the investigation, but these attempts proved unsuccessful and no money was lost on these occasions.

A Buntingford woman in her 50s was targeted by a woman claiming to be from BT, telling the victim she had a virus on their computer, and transferred the call to someone wanting to access the computer remotely.

They then became threatening on the phone, demanding the victim buy £5,000 worth of iTunes vouchers from Tesco, but police intervened and no purchase was made.

An 87-year-old man from Markyate was contacted by an imposter saying they were from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) advising his to buy £500 worth of iTunes vouchers and read the codes over the phone.

Another man claiming to be from HMRC called a 65-year-old man from Stevenage stating he owed taxes and was instructed to buy iTunes vouchers from various places, read the codes over the phone and transfer more money to a Bitcoin account, losing £11,500 to the fraudsters.

Leader of Hertfordshire’s Constabulary’s specialist phone scam investigation team Detective Sergeant Jon Leak said: “We continue to do everything we can to bring offenders to justice. A number of convictions have already been secured but, unfortunately, these scams are still occurring with a variety of methods now being used.

“Thankfully, many people recognise them for what they are and refuse to part with any money however, there are occasions when people fall prey to the highly persuasive nature of these fraudsters and often lose thousands of pounds.

“I want to reiterate that you will never be asked under any circumstances, by police, banks or HMRC, to purchase iTunes vouchers as payment. Similarly, police and banks would never ask for your PIN or for you to hand cash and bank cards over to a courier.

“Please also share this advice with older relatives, friends and neighbours to help prevent them from becoming victims.”

To report a phone scam contact the police on 101 or to receive advice about incidents in your area sign up to the online messaging service at www.owl.com.