AROUND £750,000 has been taken from Tayside residents by fraudsters pretending to be from their bank.

The scam has seen criminals dupe people into putting money into a "safe account", claiming their accounts are under a security threat.

Police Scotland is now calling on members of the public to remain vigilant and urged them to "hang up immediately" under some circumstances.

Detective Inspector Iain McPhail, of the Economic Crime and Financial Investigation Unit, said: "I would like to remind the public, if fraud has been committed on your account, banks will never contact you direct and ask you to transfer money to another account. If they do hang up immediately.

"If you are suspicious contact the bank on the correct number you have for them and do it on a telephone separate to the one that the initial call was received.

"The bank will never ask about personal information and assets held at other financial organisations.

"If the bank calls you on a daily basis asking about your welfare or encouraging you to transfer more money to other accounts, please contact family/friend to discuss."