Detectives from the Metropolitan Police have announced the launch of a leaflet campaign in west Essex that draws attention to a recent investigation into telephone fraud, where elderly and vulnerable people are asked to give bank details to a so-called “police officer” who is also meant to be warning of the con taking place.

Just short of 30 complaints have been registered about successful and attempted thefts in the Loughton and Chigwell area in recent weeks, as well as another in Harlow. Over 2,000 offences were logged by the Met over the last two years.

Various stories have been used to trick people into thinking they are a victim of bank account fraud, though this is a front to access details that “victims” have been told they have lost.

Detective sergeant Rebecca Mullins, leading the investigation, told the Harlow Star: “These thieves can be persuasive and one victim was kept on the phone for nearly four hours before she was tricked into giving her banks details to a caller who then used the information to steal from the account.

“Our advice is never give out your bank details to anyone. Do not be fooled into phoning back callers to check their identities because they stay on the line when you think you are phoning a genuine police number.”

Since the release of the leaflet, a 53-year-old man from Walthamstow was arrested on the suspicion of fraud by false representation.