Fraudsters went on a £16,000 spending spree after conning a woman whose cash card they had stolen into believing she was talking to her bank.
The victim unwittingly handed over security information to the brazen scammers who are believed to have snatched her purse from her place of work in Rainhill .
The culprits then used the victim's card to splash thousands of pounds on clothes and jewellery.
Today Merseyside Police issued CCTV images of two men they would like to speak to over the theft and fraud which happened on Friday, January 11.
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A spokesman said following the handbag theft "someone impersonating the victim’s bank is reported to have called her stating that her card had been used nearby."
He added: "Trusting the caller, she then handed over her personal identification number.
"Unfortunately, the caller had lied and was not her bank which consequently resulted in the fraudsters using the victim’s card to spend £16,000 on clothing and jewellery."
Officers are now appealing to the public for their help to identify the two men from CCTV as they believe they could have vital information to help us find the culprits.
Large financial loss
Inspector Vicky Holden said: “This is an unfortunate incident which has resulted in a large financial loss.
"The person responsible has impersonated a credible organisation whilst taking advantage of the victim's trust for their own gain. "
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She added: “Scammers are very clever and can manipulate their victims – we want to make sure that this sort of incident doesn’t happen again, so please, if you have any information about this incident in particular or a similar incident, get in touch."
Anyone with information is urged to DM @MerPolCC or call 101 quoting: 19100014034.
