[P]olice are aware of a scam which attempts to gain money from members of the public.
The telephone scam, which has been attempted in the West Cumbria area, relates to a caller purporting to be from HMRC stating that prosecution action will be taken unless payment is made.
Cumbria Constabulary spokesperson said: “Our advice for such calls is to politely decline to hand over any money and to take the details of the caller and contact HMRC to check if it is an actual case or fraudulent.
“The HMRC website states they would never use these methods to tell you about a tax rebate, a penalty or even to get personal payment information.
“We would like to advise the public to be wary of such scams.”
Anyone who comes across such a scam should contact Action Fraud at www.actionfraud.org.uk or contact the Action Fraud Hotline on 0300 123 2040.
