Police officers in Ceredigion are urging people to be vigilant about phone scammers following a recent rise in reports.

Phone scams are a type of fraud which is also known as courier fraud or vishing and often targets the elderly and vulnerable.

Police said the victim receives a phone call from fraudsters who say they are from their bank or the police.

They tell the victim that they are calling because there has been suspicious activity on their account and advise them to call the bank from the number on the back of their card, which helps the victim to believe the call is genuine.

The victim disconnects the phone and dials their bank or police.

However, the fraudster has kept the phone line open so, even though a number is dialled, it is not connected, and the victim is still on the phone to the fraudster, who then gains their trust and usually asks them to either say or key in their PIN, before telling them their card will be collected and a replacement delivered, or asks them to go to their bank branch and transfer money into another account.

“This is a sophisticated scam, with a number of variations to it, therefore it is important that you question even truly genuine sounding calls, and most importantly remember banks and police will never ask for your PIN or bank card, or ask you to transfer funds to a ‘safe’ account,” a spokesperson said.