Police in Perthshire have issued a fraud alert after two households were cheated out of £50,000.
Conmen are targeting the area with a telephone scam known as vishing, which persuades unsuspecting victims to hand over their personal bank details.
Fraudsters are pretending to be from the victim’s bank, telling them that there has been suspicious activity on their accounts.
Residents are either encouraged to transfer their money to another account or to provide personal details which would allow the crooks to take the cash out themselves.
Police said one Perthshire couple were tricked into phoning what they thought was their bank’s helpline number.
In fact they had called one of the fraudsters, who was able to take their account details and to steal £25,000 from their account.
In another incident on the same day, November 3, a resident lost £25,000 after being convinced by conmen to transfer money into a “safe” bank account.
A force spokeswoman said last night: “Police would advise residents to be alert to any phone call they receive from a person claiming to be from a bank or financial institution, either asking for money to be transferred or asking for a phone call to be made to the bank. Do not provide any of your details.
“If you do decide to call the bank, where possible call from a different phone line or mobile number.
“If in doubt, ask the caller to put a stop on your account and attend your branch in person.”