An elderly woman from Hazlemere almost lost £10,000 to scammers who pretended to be from BT. 

The woman, in her eighties, walked into Hazlemere Police Station last week after spending two hours on the phone with a man claiming to be from the telecommunications company. 

The man asked for her help in catching a hacker and suggested that her details had already been compromised and if she did not help she would be without banking and phone for 10 days.

During the long conversation, the man convinced her to download a legitimate app on her iPad which then allowed an unauthorised person to take control of her accounts and transfer a "substantial" sum of money from her savings.

She then became suspicious and alerted the local neighbourhood team - and avoided losing nearly £10,000.

PC Russell Hawkins, from the Hazlemere policing team, said it was a "very close call". 

He said: "One of the emotions associated with being scammed is one of shame and often victims are ashamed to tell even their families.

"These fraudsters are very convincing and by telling the police you can warn others and prevent this from happening. Scams are constantly changing and becoming ever more complex and hard to spot.

"These scams will often take the form of requesting your assistance in catching a hacker or thief, often within an institution such as a bank. Our instinct is to help others and this is what the criminals rely upon."