A fraudster scammed an innocent member of the public out of £500 after the Good Samaritan stopped to help him after his car apparently broke down.

The member of the public was a victim of an elaborate and sophisticated scam when he was approached in High Wycombe town centre on Saturday, October 12, by a man who spoke fluent French asking for help.

He told the passer-by that his car had broken down and he was trying to phone a friend but could not understand how the BT payphone in the High Street worked.

Luckily, the passer-by understood enough French to work out what the man was asking and they tried cash in the phone but could not connect.

The fraudster then tried a French bank card but that would not work either.

He then asked the resident if he had a card that would work and if he would make the call for him.

The resident put his own card in the machine, followed by his PIN but that did not work, so the fraudster asked the resident to try again.

It still did not work but his card disappeared - thinking the machine had taken it, but the fraudster had actually stolen the card whilst the resident was distracted.

The fraudster then produced a mobile and called what he claimed to be BT.

The person on the other end of the phone told the resident to stay by the phone and BT would come and retrieve his card.

The victim then realised that something was not right and despite the fraudster trying to keep the resident to stay by the phone, the victim went to his bank along the High Street to cancel his card - but not before his card had been used to withdraw £500 from his account by another bank on the High Street.

Warnings about the elaborate scam have been shared online and on the Thames Valley Alert system in a bid to raise awareness about how "organised and plausible" fraudsters can be.