GLOUCESTERSHIRE Police are warning people not to give out their bank details, PINs or account numbers to anyone over the phone.

This follows a number of separate bank scam incidents in Cheltenham and Cirencester.

A Cheltenham woman was persistently called by a man saying that he was from the TSB fraud department and that she needed to transfer her money from her TSB account into a Barclays' one.

The incident happened on Thursday, October 16 when the woman became suspicious and alerted police, fortunately no money was lost. Incident 355 of 16/10/14.

In another separate incident a caller claiming to be a police officer phoned an elderly Cirencester lady on Friday, October 3 claiming to have arrested two men in London in possession of her bank and credit cards - which she knew to be suspicious as she does not have such cards.

The caller claimed to have her address and postcode. Police were alerted, no money was lost. Incident 115 of 3/10/14.

A Cirencester incident - 466 of 2/10/14 October - a man claiming to be a police officer phoned a resident claiming her account had been compromised and an arrest made.

She refused to call a number he claimed to be for her bank, and the caller rang off. Again no money was taken.

Senior harm reduction advisor Dave McFarlane, at Gloucestershire Police, said: “Sadly these types of incidents are becoming all too common as these unscrupulous characters take advantage of innocent victims by winning their trust.

"We are reiterating the following message to everyone, particularly those vulnerable members of our community; banks will never ask you to give your details over the phone or via email.

"If you get a call like this hang up, even disconnect the phone, then ring 101 and report the incident."

For more crime prevention advice, please log onto gloucestershire.police.uk