North Yorkshire residents warned to be vigilant to scams
It is International Fraud Awareness Week
There is a warning to be vigilant to scams across North Yorkshire.
It follows reports of people ringing homes, claiming they need to inspect loft insulation so that they can supply a certificate as part of a "Government Scheme".
As part of International Fraud Awareness Week, police and other organisations are highlighting various scams.
Andy Fox is a Counter Fraud Coordinator in the county and said: "It's really a case of raising awareness so when they receive that text message or phone call or in time to come when they're an avatar on their screen, that they're able to identify that it's a fraud.
"So it's not just financial harm but serious psychological harm as well as these frauds can be quite devastating on them.
"As the technology increases and as Artificial Intelligence is then become more interactable with the person, so therefore it's not just about an avatar being able to say something to you, but then be involved in actual two-way conversation then the potential for fraudsters is absolutely huge.
"Once the technology increase and once scammers get very adept at using this technology, I can see big problems for the likes of myself who are fraud protection officers where we're trying to safeguard victims from fraud.
"Apart from a lot of research going on to try and understand the scale of the problem, all we can do at this moment in time is educate the public about what the potential types of scams that they may see coming to their laptop, phone or PC in the coming months or years."
You can report any incidents to Action Fraud.