A warning has been issued over a phone scam after a spike in reports of the vulnerable being targeted.

In recent weeks, 40 reports have been made to police of callers attempting to obtain personal bank details.

The scam, which was recently widely reported across Epping Forest, resulted in elderly people losing thousands of pounds to people pretending to be a police officer or from a bank.

On most occasions they tell the victim they have been a victim of fraud and must verify details.

Sometimes they tell the caller to hang up and dial 101 to assure them it is the police, but when the caller redials, they go straight back through to the original caller, who did not hang up.

Victims have either been persuaded to transfer money, give sensitive details, or even hand cash and cards to a fake courier.

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Detective Constable Rob Waring, from Waltham Forest CID, said: “Criminals put a lot of time and effort into being convincing because for them the pay-off is immense.

“We want people to question even truly genuine sounding calls and, most importantly, remember police and banks will never ask for your PIN or bank card, so you should never give these away.

“They will also never ask for money or send a courier to collect a card.

"If you do receive such a call, hang the phone up immediately".

Police have not revealed how much has been stolen in the latest spate of calls.

Police have asked anyone who may have been targeted to call police once they have made sure there is a dialling tone on their phone, or use a mobile.

Officers have asked relatives, neighbours and friends of elderly people to spread the warning about cold callers.