A 47-YEAR-OLD Tynedale woman has issued a warning to residents across the district after she was conned out of £375 in a telephone scam.

The woman, who lives in Wark but asked not to be named, took a telephone call from a man claiming to be an official from the Financial Conduct Authority suggesting she was owed thousands of pounds as a Payment Protection Insurance refund.

During the call, which was received from an 020 number October 18, the woman was told all she had to do to progress the claim was to go to her local Tesco store and buy £375 worth of iTunes gift cards.

“I had to sit in my car in Tesco car park and reveal the serial number from each card to the caller,” she explained.

“Then I was told the following day, at 3.30pm, a FedEx delivery driver by the name of Michael Jones would deliver my cash.”

But when the delivery failed to arrive, the woman grew suspicious and alerted police.

“It was a confidence trick, because they did everything to reassure me this was genuine,” she added.

“It leaves you with a sick feeling; I can’t believe I was taken in.

“If they can convince me I’m concerned this will happen to others.”

The matter was reported to police on October 19 and has been referred to Action Fraud, the national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, for further investigation.

Police say they are not aware of any other victims of this method of scam but have urged people to be cautious of any unknown callers.

Tynedale Neighbourhood Inspector Pam Bridges said: “It’s really important that people do not let scam callers con them into paying money. If anyone receives a similar call they should hang up.

“If it seems too good to be true then it usually is. In this case a person cold-called the victim claiming she was owed a large amount of money and it would be released if she handed over a percentage of this.

“Police advise never agree to hand over cash or card details to anyone who cold-calls asking for money to be handed over in order to release an amount of cash. Always make more inquiries, get the caller’s details and if suspicious contact police. Never hand over personal details or credit or bank card details. It’s vital people are vigilant.”

The scam follows calls received by residents across the district, including homes in Knowesgate and Stamfordham, from callers claiming to be from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

They tell the victim they have unpaid tax and if they do not pay the money they will be taken to court.

Police advice is to hang up and not pass on any details to the caller.

Northumberland County Council has also issued a warnings after reports of scam calls across the county.

David Sayer, business compliance and public safety unit manager, said: “Residents need to be extremely cautious if they receive a call like this and simply put the phone down.

“This is nothing more than an attempt to extract personal details – and ultimately money – from the householder.”

Go to www.actionfraud.police .uk for more information.