Police have issued a warning to residents after a hoax caller scammed a woman out of thousands of pounds.

Yesterday an elderly woman from Newcastle was targeted by a man purporting to be an officer from 'Manchester Police'.

The caller claimed he was contacting her because there had been some unusual activity on her credit card.

Attempting to convince the woman the call was genuine, the man suggested she ring her bank and the police back straight away.

Police are warning people about cold call scams
Police are warning people about cold call scams

But the fraudster did not hang up and stayed connected to the line, meaning the woman continued talking to him.

She was then persuaded to withdraw money from her bank account under the pretext of helping police trace the fraudsters.

The woman was told to withdraw the money from two local post offices and convert some to euros. The total amounted to £500 and €4,200.

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She was then instructed to put the money in an envelope, which was collected by a 'courier' at around 4pm.

A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: "Please remember that the police or your bank would never ask you to aid an investigation by withdrawing or transferring money.

"Never give out or confirm personal or financial information, such as your PIN, to anyone over the phone. If you receive one of these calls, please end it immediately.

"Do not engage in conversation, they will try to cause panic and fear to get you to collect money for them.

"If you believe you have been a victim of this type of crime, call us on 101, and if you have any information regarding those responsible for such crimes, please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."