Callous conmen posing as police officers tricked a 72-year-old woman into handing over more than £10,000 in cash on her own doorstep.

At around 11am on Thursday, August 9, the pensioner, who is from the Colchester area, was approached by a group of men at her home and told she needed to withdraw the cash so it could undergo forensic examination.

She did this and then passed the cash to a man who acted as a courier.

Police have released a CCTV image of the man in question in the hopes of identifying those responsible.

Detective Sergeant Karen Osborne, of Essex Police’s Volume Fraud Team, said: “The men involved in this crime pretended to be specialist fraud detectives and conned a woman out of a significant sum of cash.

“They cold called her and then preyed on her trust and respect for authority.

“Remember, we will never ask you for your cash or personal details. We would urge you to be vigilant and if you see any suspicious behaviour, please call police immediately.”

Another similar scam took place last week in Danbury, where a woman in her 80s was asked to withdraw an amount of cash for the police.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We were called by the bank who were concerned at around 6pm on Monday, October 1.

“We attended and arrested a 24-year-old man from Islington on suspicion of fraud by false representation.

“He has since been released under investigation.

“We appreciate that the CCTV is not of the best quality, however, anyone with information about the incident in Colchester is asked to call the Volume Fraud Team on 101 quoting crime reference 42/115332/18.

“You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.”