Police have issued a warning to people in North Herts to be on their guard after a series of attempted phone scams in the area on Saturday.

The Herts force fielded four reports from members of the public following suspicious calls from suspected fraudsters, with two incidents in Letchworth, one in Baldock and one in Hitchin.

In each case the caller claimed to be a police officer investigating the theft or cloning of victim’s bank card or account details, but none of the intended victims’ bank details were compromised.

Police have had great success in recent months in cracking down on phone fraud and raising public awareness of what to do if people become a target, but they have repeated their advice about such scams:

If people are suspicious about a telephone conversation then they should end the call and contact police via the 101 non-emergency number.

They should remember to use a mobile phone or a friend’s phone or wait at least five minutes before calling to ensure they aren’t reconnected to the offender.

They also want to reinforce the message that banks or police officers would never ask for account details or PIN numbers over the phone, never ask you to withdraw money and send it to them, and never ask you to send them or to hand over your bank cards or any other personal property.

Find out more at www.herts.police.uk/PhoneScams.