TWO ELDERLY Petersfield victims of telephone scammers each had £6,000 stolen from them.

Women aged 78 and 80 went to their banks, withdrew the money and handed it to a courier on their doorsteps.

They were told to do this over the phone by a criminal posing as a police officer investigating a fraud.

Both victims were told not to trust their bank when anti-fraud checks were being completed.

These were among nine reports of the scam taking place in East Hampshire between January 6 and 16.

On the other seven occasions the potential victims recognised it was a scam before the courier arrived.

A Hampshire Constabulary spokesman said police would never call people and ask them to withdraw money or disclose personal or financial information.

The force advised people to hang up if they had such a call, and said friends, relatives and carers of people vulnerable to such a scam should warn them about it and ask their phone company for a free unsolicited calls blocking service.