A elderly man from Sidcup was phoned by a scammer pretending to be police officer and asking for money.

Met police are investigating the attempted fraud after the man was phoned by a man pretending to be a police officer and asked to withdraw money from his bank account.

The man did not withdraw any money and reported the matter to the police.

A police spokesman said: "These fraudsters put a huge amount of time and effort into being convincing because for them the pay-off is immense.

"We want people to question even truly genuine sounding calls and, most importantly, remember police and banks will never ask for your PIN or bank card, so you should never give these away.

"They will also never ask for money or send a courier to collect a card."

Elderly people across London have reported similar calls.

The spokesman added: "These fraudsters often ask victims to ring their bank or the police, however, the fraudster keeps the telephone line open so even though the person has called the number for their bank or the police, the call does not go through.

"Instead they are unknowingly connected straight back to the fraudster.

"If you do receive such a call, hang the phone up immediately."