CONMEN could be netting thousands of pounds in a new credit card scam across the North-East.

One Teesside woman had a £500 purchase put on her card within minutes of being talked into revealing credit card details over the telephone to a bogus fraud investigator.

Victims are asked by the caller, purporting to be an investigator for a well-known credit card company, if they have bought an item from a marketing company that it is claimed, is under investigation.

The customer is told to ring an 0800 number for future queries and given a six-digit bogus reference number.

The caller then asks for certain numbers on the card to "verify it has not been lost.''

Only three of the credit card numbers are needed to make Internet purchases for the conman to cash in.

The Teesside victim, who has a Visa card, said: "The real Visa security card department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a purchase of £497.99 was put on our card.

"We made a real fraud report. Visa closed the card and is re-issuing us with a new number.''

The following day the woman and her husband received a call from someone claiming to be from Mastercard, feeding them the same storyline.

Detective Inspector Bill Matthews, head of Cleveland Police Fraud Squad, said: "This seems to be a new scam and people should be aware of it. We are making inquiries to see how widespread it is.

"No credit card company or bank will ever ask for such details over the telephone and people should never divulge their card details.''