Police are tackling fraudsters with a leaflet detailing scams used to trick people into parting with their cash.

Cold calls about unsecured loans and letters informing the reader they have won a lottery abroad are among the tried and tested scamming methods outlined in the ‘Are you a victim of fraud?’ leaflet.

Less well-known scams are also highlighted, such as the ‘fraud recovery fraud’ where a cold caller claims that a product or service bought as a result of a previous cold call does not exist or is fake.

The callers then scam money by pretending to be a government employee investigating the issue and say they require an upfront fee in order to return the victim’s money.

Temporary Detective Sergeant Sam Hopkinson of the Complex Fraud Team, said: “Fraud is an extremely distressing crime and one of the few crimes where victims are often too embarrassed to report it to police.

“This is usually because they feel that it is somehow their fault for being taken in, but fraudsters are very persuasive and often target the most vulnerable people in our communities.

“This leaflet is designed to inform people about the most current scams and provide advice on what they should do if they are unfortunate enough to become a victim.

“The most important piece of advice I can give to the public is to remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.”

This initiative comes after the launch of Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, earlier this month.

The leaflets are available from Enquiry Offices and Neighbourhood Policing Teams, and anyone wishing to report an incident of fraud should contact Action Fraud via the website www.actionfraud.police.uk People can also call 0300 123 2040. Any crimes in action should be reported to Wiltshire Police via 999.