A PENSIONER has been left £40,000 out of pocket after conmen posed as police officers claiming she must buy them a Rolex watch, Euros and some cash.

The woman, in her 70s, was contacted by a man who claimed to be a “Sergeant Wiggins”, calling from a 999 number.

He told the vulnerable York pensioner that suspicious activity had been reported on her bank account and that she must make high-value purchases on Coney Street, in York, to rectify the situation.

The phone call was made on Monday, April 23, and four days later a man arrived at her home.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “At 10pm on Thursday, April 26, a man called ‘Jamal’ arrived, in what is described as a ‘Speedy Delivery’ van.

“He provided the password ‘SUNFLOWER’, which had been given to the victim in an earlier phone call with ‘Sergeant Wiggins’ and left with the watch and money.

“In total the value of the watch and money came to £40,000.”

An elderly couple in their 70s also living in York were contacted two weeks ago by a man claiming their bank account had been defrauded and they needed £3,000 withdrawn from it to investigate.

The couple took out the money and on Friday, April 20, a person visited their home to collect the cash.

The North Yorkshire Police spokesman added: “In the third incident in York, a woman received a phone call on Thursday, April 26, from a man called ‘Brian Park’ who claimed to be calling from Natwest’s Fraud Squad.

“He said that there had been suspicious activity on her account and that someone had tried to pay for goods at Homebase and John Lewis for a sum of £1,645.

“He said that he would block the transactions for her and get someone from HSBC to call her.

“Following this, the victim received a phone call from what she believed was HSBC who said that the police and a fraud squad were investigating.

“In the meantime, the caller convinced the victim that she would need to move her money to another account within 24 hours. The victim visited her bank and transferred £7,800 into an account that had been provided to her over the phone.

“The caller then said a police officer would visit her home address on Saturday, April 28. When she called North Yorkshire Police to confirm the details of the appointment it became apparent that she had become a victim of fraud.”

The police are reminding members of the public that the police or banks would not ask account holders to withdraw or transfer money or send someone to collect money, even with a password.

Detective Inspector Jonathan Rowland of North Yorkshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit said: “These fraudsters are extremely well organised and rehearsed and use a range of tricks and lies to convince their victims into trusting them.

“We cannot stress enough that the Police or anyone from a bank would never ask you to withdraw or transfer money, or send someone to collect money from you, even with a password.

“If you have any doubts at all you should always hang up and call the police immediately or speak to a family member.”