A 53-YEAR-OLD Dumbarton woman has been conned out of £4,000 after someone phoned pretending to be from her bank.

Police officers are investigating the incident after the fraudster was said to be very convincing, leading to details of the local woman’s account being handed over.

Community police reminded the public to remain vigilant.

They warned fraudsters can phone and pretend to be from the person's bank and claim the account has been compromised.

The fraudsters then persuade their target to transfer money to a "safe" account, from which the money is then stolen.

Police said fraudsters are well-practised and convincing, and the scam is sophisticated. They can even phone the person back a number of times to "help" and talk them through the transfer process.

Officers said the public should be suspicious of any call claiming to be from a bank and asking them to provide account information over the phone or transfer money.

They asked residents to keep a note of the phone number of their bank and not call the number provided by the fraudsters unless they know it's genuine.

Fraudsters can sometimes keep phone lines open by not hanging up and then pretend to "answer" a call residents subsequently make to their own bank.

They said if there is a suspicious call, either wait 30 minutes until the line has cleared or use another phone to contact their bank.

For further advice contact your own bank or if you think you may the victim of a fraud, phone 101. 

Further information is also available at scotland.police.uk/keep-safe/safety-security-advice/personal-safety/identity-theft-fraud-and-scams.