POLICE in Ryedale are warning people not to be taken in by conmen making telephone calls about bank fraud and claiming to be officers.

The warning comes after a member of the public took a call from a man claiming to be a detective who was investigating a fraud on their bank account and asked for details, including personal identification numbers.

He asked them to call back on the police non-emergency number 101, to verify his identity.

The victim’s phone call to 101 then appeared to be re-routed back to the suspects who held their line open.

In this instance, the intended victims did the right thing and did not give any bank details over the phone.

They became suspicious of the caller and reported the incident to the police.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said they were warning members of the public not to be taken in by the scam.

“A police officer will never, ever ask for your bank account security details,” said the spokesman.

“Please don’t ever give your bank account details to anyone who calls you out of the blue and also wait at least five minutes and ensure you have a dialling tone before you make another call from your phone.”

Anyone who wants to report a fraud can phone Action Fraud on 03001 232040 or online at actionfraud.police.uk or your local police on 101. In an emergency always phone 999.