A bogus police officer has conned a North Yorkshire resident out of several thousand pounds by false claims about bank cards and fake money.

The county’s real police have issued an urgent warning for everyone to be on their guard as they fear the fraudsters could strike again.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said the conmen phoned the victim claiming to be a police officer and spun them a tale about finding bank cards in a shop and carrying out an investigation into fake money.

They persuaded the victim to withdraw money from their bank account and hand it over to a “police courier” for safe keeping.

But the “courier” was part of the fraud and stole the money.

North Yorkshire Police urged residents if they are or have been targeted, call the force on 101.

If any suspicious people call, don’t answer the door and call police on 999.

The real police tell residents;

• They would never ask you for money

• They would never ask for your bank details in these circumstances

• Criminals are experts at impersonating banks, trusted organisations or the police. They will try to rush and panic you into responding to their requests. It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore these requests

• If you’re contacted out of the blue, you can call us back to verify an officer, but please make sure the criminals are no longer on the line. Hang up and wait at least five minutes before you call , better still, use a different line or phone altogether if you can. In the North Yorkshire case, the fraudsters suggested to the victim told the victim to verify that the call was genuine by calling 999 but the suspects stayed on line so when the victim rang 999 and assumed they were talking to the real police they were actually still talking to the fraudsters.

• You could also ask a friend, neighbour or relative to help you.