POLICE in Lancashire are warning residents to beware telephone scam artists after an officer witnessed a member of the public receive such a call.

The calls involve scammers calling people saying that they are from HMRC telling them that they owe large amount of money in unpaid taxes and unless they pay it off during the phone call they will issue a high court warrant.

A Ribble Valley police officer witnessed such an attempted scam when a member of the public took a call.

The officer said: "Today I witnessed a member of the public receive such a call. The call did sound very convincing at the start, but when details where questioned how their tone changed, they became very pushy and aggressive.

"When I came on to the call the caller spoke very quickly then cancelled the call.

"The call came from a number which is listed as a HMRC number 02079477772 but calls from this number would not show up on caller ID as such."

"If you do receive a call please do not give any details and please hang up and report it to Action Fraud."

Contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or by visiting https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/.