The community has been warned to be on guard against gangs operating a major credit card scam in areas with a large number of Jewish residents.

Fraudsters are pretending to be police officers in Barnet, north-west London, in order to trick victims into handing over their card and PIN numbers.

Barnet Police Chief Superintendent Adrian Usher said the scam was targeting elderly, vulnerable and women residents in particular. The borough is home to more Jews than any other in the country.

Ch Supt Usher said it was his duty to warn residents, and offered reassurance that officers “take these crimes very seriously” and were working with specialist units to apprehend offenders.

Volunteers from the Shomrim community security group thwarted an attempted fraud in Golders Green last December. They were called in as scammers worked to trick a Jewish pensioner.

Earlier that month a Jewish woman from Edgware was tricked into handing over £20,000 to a gang operating a similar scam.