A Western Telegraph reader has warned of a scam which police say is targeting people in Pembrokeshire in particular.

The reader received a call on her landline last week from a man who asked for her by name and said he was a detective sergeant from Greater Manchester Police.

He said that they had a man in custody with the same surname and first initial as her, who had been arrested for fraud and money laundering.

“The man said that this person had told them that he was my nephew and lived with me at my address, he then read out an address which was my address,” said the reader.

The fake ‘sergeant’ then said that the reader’s ‘nephew’ had £5,000 in cash on him and a number of bank cards in her name, which he said she had given him. He added that he had been told the reader was 82 and housebound.

At this point she realised that she was the target of a scam.

“I burst out laughing and said it sounded like a wind-up. He said it was a ‘very serious matter, madam, this person has been arrested for fraud'.”

The reader then asked the fake ‘sergeant’ for a phone number so that she could check his identity and he replied asking her if she knew the police emergency numbers.

“I continued to ask him for a phone number, and he said words to the effect that the police didn’t give out their phone numbers and then he hung up,” she said.

When she rang 101 to report the scam call she was told that the police are being ‘inundated’ with similar reports, with Pembrokeshire being a particular target.

Dyfed-Powys police warned against a variant of this particular cold calling scam earlier this month where a person pretending to be a detective constable from the London area was calling people and telling them that their card has been used fraudulently before asking them to call a number to obtain a crime reference number.

"If you receive a call like this, please hang up immediately without giving any personal details,” said a police spokesperson.