THREE elderly people have been robbed of thousands of pounds after being tricked into giving away their bank cards.
The victims, who were all in their 80s, each received a phone call from someone claiming to be from their bank and were told there was a problem with their card.
In each case, they were instructed to put their card in an envelope along with their pin, which was then uplifted by a courier.
An 88-year-old man, an 80-year-old woman and an 81-year-old woman from Edinburgh have been targeted.
A further elderly lady contacted police on Saturday after receiving a similar phone call. She declined to provide her card and was not defrauded.
Detectives believe these incidents are linked and are now urging communities to be wary of this scam.
Convincing
The courier, who collected the cards, is described as male, Asian 25-30-years-old, 5ft 11ins tall with a medium build and a gap between his bottom front teeth. He was wearing a black jacket.
A police spokesman said: “In each occasion the caller has targeted elderly members of the community.
“He has sounded very convincing and the victims complied with the request, believing they were dealing with their bank.
“They have all been left extremely distressed after discovering that large sums of money had been stolen from their bank accounts.
“Anyone who can assist us in tracing those responsible for this scam is asked to contact police immediately.
“The public are reminded to never give out personal details to anyone unless they are entirely certain of their authenticity.”
