Police are urging residents in East Anglia to be cautious after a man claiming to be a Norfolk police officer almost scammed a pensioner out of several thousand pounds.

The incident took place in Ipswich on Thursday, September 26 between 10am and 4pm when the victim, aged in his 80s, was talking on the telephone to a man claiming to be a detective from Norwich.

The suspect talked the victim into withdrawing a total of £6,500 from two bank accounts. After this an unknown man visited the victim's home address in Mornington Avenue to collect the money, but the victim refused to hand it over.

In light of the incident officers are advising that:

- Police or bank staff will never ask people to hand over money or cards over the phone and will not ask for personal information such as your bank account number of PIN.

- The police will never call people and ask them to withdraw money to give to a courier, taxi driver, officer or any other party - regardless of how convincing they may seem.

- If you receive such a call leave the landline for at least five minutes before making an outside call. Fraudsters will keep the line open and have been known to play ring tones, hold music and a recorded message down the phone so the victim believes they are making a call to a legitimate number.

- Use a friend or neighbour's telephone instead and call the police by dialling 101.

Police are also calling on bank staff to remain vigilant where large sums are withdrawn. Several previous scams have been thwarted due to the good work of alert bank personnel.

Anyone with any information about the incident in Ipswich on September 26 or who saw any suspicious activity should contact Ipswich police on 101 quoting crime reference 37/58503/19.

Alternatively, contact the police online at www.suffolk.police.uk/contact…/existing-report-update or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or www.crimestoppers-uk.org.