Bogus telephone employees are targeting Shropshire people in a bid to fleece them out of cash by threatening that their phone would be cut off if they don’t pay a charge.

The scam, which has hit people across the country, has involved people claiming to be BT employees. People who have fallen for it have given over their bank account details and ended up paying at least £75.

The latest report in Shropshire happened in Shrewsbury on Monday, but the victim was suspicious and refused to hand over any card details, despite pressure from the caller.

When she said she would be checking with BT directly, the caller became aggressive and ended the call, police said.

Officers are now warning people to be on their guard against the scam in which a bogus caller informs the victim that their telephone account is in arrears and they were likely to be cut off – but if they made a telephone payment there and then, all would be well.

Many fraudsters claimed that if the victim did not pay the arrears there and then, their phone would be cut off and they would have to pay anything from £75 to have it reconnected, police said.

BT staff have confirmed to police that they have never adopted this style of debt recovery and do not intend to do so, officers said.

Maria Hawkaluk, a spokeswoman for West Mercia Police, said: “If you receive a call asking for phone arrears to be paid over the phone, hang up and do not under any circumstances give out any of your bank or card details on the phone, especially your card verification number and, or, PIN.

“This is true for anybody who cold calls you and asks for any personal details, including bank details. Never give them out and hang up immediately.”

Last month The Office of Fair Trading issued a warning to people to be vigilant about scams which cost the public about £3.5 billion a year. More than 7,000 scams were reported last year.