Residents in north Dorset have been hit by yet another scam.

The latest scam to hit the Sherborne area was reported by police on Wednesday.

A resident received a telephone call from a scammer claiming that the money in the resident’s account was not safe because a member of staff at their bank had been made aware of fraudulent activity.

The scammer told the resident that their money needed to be transferred to a ‘secure account’.

At the end of the call the resident was instructed to go to their bank and transfer £9,000 to an account number that was provided by the scammer.

While at the bank, the bank staff were immediately suspicious and provided support to their customer and contacted the police.

PCSO Mark Jones of Dorset Police said: “Fortunately due to the timely intervention of the bank staff, in this incident no money was lost."

He added: "There have been several telephone call scam attempts of this nature in the Sherborne area over the past week.

“Although anyone can fall for a scam, some people are vulnerable and more likely to be targeted. People who can be especially vulnerable to scams include older people and people with mental health problems, learning difficulties or dementia.

“If you are a carer, relative, friend or neighbour of someone who is vulnerable, you might be the only person who can stop them from being scammed. Talk to the vulnerable people in your life and make sure they know what to look out for when it comes to scams.”

It comes after Sherborne was hit by a wave of scams last week.

As part of the scams, criminals were posing as police officers to try and steal money from vulnerable people, and one victim nearly lost £6,000.

Residents can find out more about these types of scam and how to protect themselves against them by visiting the Action Fraud website. You can also report suspicious calls like these to Action Fraud by visiting www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.