An elderly Abergavenny woman was conned out of thousands of pounds after heartless fraudsters duped her through a fake tax scam.

The 83-year-old victim, who wishes to not be named, was contacted by swindlers claiming to represent HMRC, who then threatened her with prison time if she didn’t pay the bogus bill.

The woman handed £3,000 over the phone after being threatened with ‘action’ from bogus Enforcement Officers.

The convincing fraudsters managed to convince the victim that she could end up in jail after not paying taxes she ‘owed’ to the revenue service.

The elderly woman was then encouraged to purchase thousands of pounds of iTunes vouchers from a local store to settle the phoney bill.

The scammers then called back and said that handing over the codes would settle her ‘bill’, defrauding the pensioner of thousands of pounds.

Police say the elderly victim has been left distressed and upset.

A police spokeswoman said, “Over the last two weeks Gwent Police have received numerous reports from concerned residents who have had calls from fraudsters claiming to be representatives of the HMRC tax office.

?“In each case the caller demands money and uses threatening behaviour by saying to the victim enforcement officers will take action if they fail to pay.

“We are keen to remind residents that they should not give out personal or financial information to anyone that they do not completely trust, and that anyone in any doubt at all should seek professional advice before parting with any money.”

?Issues of this nature can be reported to Gwent Police by calling 101 or by contacting your local council’s trading standards department. Alternatively you can report it to Action Fraud on 03001232040.