POLICE are reminding people to be on guard against a telephone scam that seven people have fallen victim to in the past three days.

The fraud involves a cold caller pretending to be a police officer and either urging the person to hand their bank card over to a courier or taxi driver, or asking them to call their bank. Victims may be asked to ring the number on the back of their card.

However, the scammer keeps the line open so the victim unknowingly talks to another member of the gang, posing as a bank employee.

After scammers targeted four people in Redditch this week, Inspector Jill Fowler, of West Mercia Police, said police will never ask for account details or PIN numbers over the phone and will never visit your house to collect your cards or property.

If you get a call like this hang up immediately and dial 999 using another phone, or call 101 with any information about the scam.