Fraudsters have been targeting Dundonians with recent scams, prompting a police appeal for vigilance from the public.
Strangers offering high-value goods for cash in the street struck twice last week, duping their victims with items of much lesser value.
In another incident an elderly woman was tricked into sending money to criminals when she fell prey to a fake lottery scam earlier in the month.
The incidents have led Police Scotland to issue a warning for members of the public to be alert to fraudulent schemes.
A police spokeswoman said: “During the last week in Dundee there have been two reports of incidents where people have been approached by strangers in the street offering to sell high-value goods such as computers, mobile phones and electrical items for cash up front.
“However, during the exchange, the victims were given items of nominal value instead, on these occasions the deceit was only noticed after the suspects had left.”
Officers are keen to trace two men seen in a blue Ford Focus or Mondeo in the Baffin Street area on Thursday.
The car was in the area between 2.45 and 3.30pm and one of the suspects was in his mid-thirties wearing a white T-shirt with light stripes and blue jeans. The other man was in his mid-forties and wore a blue top.
A similar blue Ford was also seen in the Murraygate and Exchange Street, between 4 and 5pm on Tuesday.
In this incident the occupants were a man in his thirties, wearing a dark baseball cap, yellow top, and jeans and a man aged between 50 and 60.
A Dundee woman was also the victim of a scam involving alleged lottery winnings.
The police spokeswoman said: “An elderly woman received a number of telephone calls claiming she had won hundreds of thousands of pounds in a USA lottery and was instructed to send cash and cheques to different addresses in the UK to pay for various taxes, before she could receive any money.
“Police Scotland would again urge people to remain extremely cautious and alert when dealing with telephone calls of this nature to prevent becoming a victim of fraud.
“Schemes such as these can be perpetrated by people cold calling by telephone, attending at their home address, via unsolicited letters, emails or sending texts and people should be wary of any offer that requests money up front.
“People committing fraud all too often prey on people’s vulnerabilities. Be suspicious of any arrangement that involves parting with your hard earned cash until such time that you are completely satisfied that the person or company you are handing money over to is genuine.”