POLICE are warning Isle of Wight residents of some of the more prolific scams being reported in the run up to Christmas.

The main concern for Islanders is a computer generated call, which states payments have been taken from a Visa or Mastercard account, and to press '1' to report a fraud.

This scam also takes the form of a payment from your Amazon account.

"This time of year, when we are all doing a lot more shopping, this may panic us into responding to the instructions on the message," said a police spokesperson.

"However, all of these calls are scams. Do not respond.

"Other reports describe the same method, but claim they are the bank or the Council tax refund department. These organisations will never contact you in this way.

"The number they are calling from sometimes starts '01983', which may give it a sense of legitimacy, but scammers will buy any available UK numbers, so don’t always trust a number that starts '01983'."

Police have advised the best way to prevent yourself from being the victim of a scam, is to set up call blocking on your landline, which is free if you are a Wightfibre, Sky or Talk Talk customer, or you can purchase call blocking phones.

The National Scams Team currently have a supply of free call blocking units, that anyone who is particularly vulnerable, or is a repeat scam victim, can apply for the Friends Against Scams call blocker.