A warning has been issued after scammers posing as police officers targeted pensioners in order to try and access their bank accounts.

Seven residents living in Ashford, Canterbury, and Folkestone were contacted by someone who falsely claimed they worked for ‘Hammersmith Police’ on Thursday, January 26.

The fraudster told five victims that someone had been arrested while trying to use a bank card or cloned bank card in their name.

One of the victims was asked to call back via 999, but the scammer then stayed on the line to connect to the same phone number.

Fortunately, all victims became suspicious, refused to provide any bank details, and terminated the calls.

An eighth pensioner, from a village near Folkestone, received a similar call the next day, and was defrauded of a large sum of money.

Police have now issued a warning for people to be vigilant about this type of scam.

Det Insp Sheena Barrell, of Margate’s CID said scammers are using increasingly credible-sounding stories to defraud their victims.

"Unfortunately, a lot of victims are often vulnerable and elderly members of the community and can be defrauded into losing a substantial amount of money," she said.

"Please remember, a police force would never ask a member of the public for their bank details or money over the phone. If you receive a similar call, the advice is to hang up immediately and report it via our online form."

Police have also advised if you are not confident the person on the phone claiming to be a police officer is genuine, ask to take their details and end the call.

Anyone concerned should also wait for at least five minutes for the call to clear and then contact 101, or 999 in an emergency.

A call handler will be able to verify if a caller was genuine.

Officers also say you should never hand over any money, or other items, to a courier after receiving this type of call.

Anybody with information relating to these incidents is urged to call police on 01843 222289, quoting reference 46/16428/23.

You can also contact action fraud on 0300 1232040 or report suspicious activity online by visiting their website. Or it can be reported to crime stoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111 or by using the online form on their website.