Merseyside Police have received numerous reports from residents in the community about fraudsters contacting them via telephone, Facebook or other social media with news that people have won cash prizes, but that a sum of money needs to be paid in order to release the 'prize'.

Victims are then persuaded to withdraw large sums from their bank and send this money via Western Union or some other way to transfer money. In some cases bank staff have questioned the large withdrawal or transfer, believing that their customer may have been vulnerable to fraudsters, notified the police and we have been able to save some individuals from becoming victims of the fraudsters.

Unfortunately, not all of these scams get identified and some vulnerable people are still parting with high amounts of their hard earned savings.

We would urge all residents within Merseyside to be aware that these scams exist and to be reminded that if any surprise offer sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Please make any elderly or vulnerable friends and family members aware of this, so we can try to reduce further victims of these types of scams.

The police are doing all they can to stop these Frauds and to identify the offenders, unfortunately the suspects are often out of the UK and in countries where we are unable to pursue them.

If anybody has any further details please contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or go online.