After a spate of five phone scamming incidents police are warning people to remain aware of them.

On November 24 a woman in her early 80s from Chorleywood was contact at around 1.30pm by a man claiming to be from her bank twice and another man claiming to be a police officer.

The woman was told her card had been used fraudulently and that she was required to withdraw her life savings.

She was stopped by staff at Barclays Bank in Rickmansworth who were aware of similar scams and the police were informed.

A day later on November 25, another elderly woman from Maple Cross was called at 2pm by a man pretending to be an officer from a fraud squad.

The man persuaded her to remove money from her bank account but she was stopped by the staff in Natwest Bank.

At 2.30pm on the same day, a pensioner from Rickmansworth was called by a man who said her bank card had been compromised but she challenged the caller and ended the call.

A man in his 80s from Rickmansworth was called at around 3pm on November 26 where he was told there had been fraudulent transactions but he challenged the caller and ended it.

On the same day, a man in his 80s from Croxley Gren was called by a man claiming to be from the fraud office.

The man was asked to buy a Rolex watch from a jeweller in Watford but the pensioner was stopped by a family member who intercepted a call from the fraudster.

Detective Inspector Phil Moss, from the Three Rivers Local Crime Unit, said: “We have been working alongside the banks and other organisations in order to raise awareness about these scams and I would like to praise the staff from the banks who prevented two people from losing their life savings.

“I’d urge everyone to make their relatives, friends and neighbours aware of these scams to help prevent others falling victim to them.

“Our advice is simple: the police would never, in any circumstance, ask anyone to withdraw cash, transfer money from account to another or buy items as part of an investigation.”