A woman whose cat has been missing for over a month was left devastated after a fraudster tried to scam her by impersonating a local vets.

Lauren Greening, from Bexley, received a call from a man on a private number who claimed her pet had been found but she needed to pay a discharge fee to get it back.

Lauren's cat Peeka went missing on August 16 so she put up posters around the area where she lives, which is how she thinks the scammer got her information.

The 29-year-old said: "The man said that there was a situation about getting details from her microchip that delayed them getting back to us, but he confirmed that her name on the microchip was Peeka.

"He said a lady had her for two to three weeks, which was would make sense as she’s been missing for about a month, and said that they have done some checks and she is healthy and not underweight, and there will be no charges for the check-ups.

"He was also able to provide a disposable cat carrier free of charge if I required it – I was ecstatic that my cat was handed in alive and well."

The man asked her to go to Medivet in Dartford at 8pm that evening, telling her all she needed to do was pay £5 as a "discharge fee".

"Overwhelmed with the news of my cat I gave my card details," she said.

"As soon as I did I had a pop-up on my phone from my banking app that said 'fraud - do you recognise this transaction?'

"I tapped 'no' as I didn't recognise the name on it, and the man on the phone said it didn’t go through and to try again with another card."

She was with her mum at the time, so she gave her card details which also didn't go through.

She told the man she would pay the £5 at the vets, which he said would be fine, but to come 15 minutes earlier.

As they drove to the vets, Lauren's mum got a call from her bank to alert her to suspicious activity.

They then contacted the vets and were told no-one from the site had phoned them and they did not have a cat called Peeka in their care.

Lauren tried filling out a report of fraud on the Met Police website which didn't work, and when she tried calling she was put on hold for 30 minutes, with no conclusion.

She said: "After this I called my bank to cancel my card, so did my mum.

"This scam is extremely soul destroying, my cat is still missing to this day but I still have hope for her to come home.

"Hopefully this will help others who are missing their pets to not be fooled if this happens to them."

Medivet has been contacted for a comment.