POLICE have issued a warning about two potential scams after people in the region were targeted.

Durham Constabulary was alerted to a number of calls made to residents in County Durham on Thursday from someone claiming to be an officer DC Danson from Hammersmith Police.

The caller said a person had attempted to use a bank card believed to have been lost and asked the potential victim to confirm their bank details. The phony police officer requested another person take £6,000 from their bank account in cash and await further instructions.

Both people realised it was a scam and gave no details or money.

Also this week, the force had reports from people who received calls and messages from a company purporting to be Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. They were told to pay tax or face arrest and court proceedings.

A force spokesperson said neither police nor HMRC would operate in this way and any such contact should be considered a scam.

Anyone concerned should contact their bank or report incidents at actionfraud.police.uk