People on Teesside are being warned to be aware of telephone callers posing as employees of reputable companies. The alert comes after a local man was conned into giving his bank account number over the phone and lost cash.
The caller said she was from a TV firm but after the man investigated further he discovered it was bogus call.
Brian Dinnings from Hartlepool Trading Standards Office said it can be very difficult to catch the bogus callers so the public must be vigilant.
Unsolicited call
In the latest scam, the man lost �65 by giving his bank details to the telephone caller.
Mr Dinnings said: "I cannot stress enough that if you receive an unsolicited call, treat it with suspicion and do not give any details over the phone.
"Bear in mind that the genuine companies you deal with on a regular basis - like gas and electric companies or mail order firms - if for some reason they require money from you they never ring you up, they do it in writing.
"Generally speaking, if it is a phone call asking for money, it is a scam of some sort."
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