South Bucks has been hit by a series of recent fraud cases involving scammers impersonating police officers.

These fraudsters have been scamming local residents into losing substantial amounts of money, by providing serving officers' shoulder numbers to gain their victims' trust.

The scams typically involve a fraudulent phone call from someone purporting to be a police officer.

They then claim there is an issue with the victim's bank account, potentially involving corrupt bank staff or cloned bank account details.

The unsuspecting victims are then requested to transfer money into a 'secure' account, ostensibly for the purposes of assisting an investigation.

In reality, these accounts are operated by the scammers, resulting in the victims directly transferring funds to the fraudsters.

Additionally, victims have been tricked into providing cash, vouchers, or valuable items to a supposed 'courier', who is in fact an accomplice of the scammers.

The Police Administrator of High Wycombe, April Baldwin said: "If you receive a call like this, it is best to end it.

"Police will never ask you to transfer or withdraw money, provide valuables or buy items on their behalf.

"They will also never request bank cards or ask for your pin."

She urged to "take five" and verify via trusted methods when received any suspicious call.

Furthermore, she advised to be vigilant as scammers could claim to be from your bank or the tax office.

For more information on this she referred residents to a specified website.

Further advice from April Baldwin urged the general public to report any suspected scams to Action Fraud, either via their website or via telephone on 0300 123 2040.

In the event of an emergency, contact should be made via 101 or 999.