Bromley residents have been scammed out of nearly £93,000 in six months as the borough has seen an increase in courier fraud.

The scam involves fraudsters making unsolicited phone calls, often to elderly people, and pretending to be from the police or bank in order to trick victims into handing over bank details and PIN numbers.

Police are warning residents to be aware of the scam after there were 67 courier fraud offences committed across the borough between April and September this year, costing victims almost £93,000.

Since April 2014 there have been 167 offences, with residents losing nearly £300,000.

Inspector Phyllis Rooney from Bromley Police said: "These courier 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.

“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. And if you have been a victim of one of these scams, please contact us so that we can investigate".