Eastern Bay police are continuing to receive reports of bank, firewood and other scams targeting residents across the district.

One recently reported scam involved a caller pretending to be from a bank and keeping the victim on the phone for hours while extracting personal information.

Senior Sergeant Cam Mackinnon reminds people to hang up if they receive such a call and never pass on personal details via the internet or telephone.

“The bank, or any organisation, is not going to ring you and keep you on the phone for hours asking you all sorts of questions.”

He said another phone scam involved an automated message.

“It doesn't identify who the person is and immediately asks you to push a series of buttons to confirm certain things, which you've got no requirement to do. You feel pressured to push in certain digit numbers to accept a call, which you didn't initiate.

“They'll try to catch you unaware at home, keep you on the phone, and extract details out of you, which they then use to get further information out of you, and potentially relieve you of your funds.”

He said he received such a message but immediately hung up.

“They grab numbers out of the internet, and they try their luck. So, if it can happen in the police station, it can happen anywhere, to anyone, of any age.”

Police also warn people to be wary about buying firewood through Facebook and other online platforms.

“There's still a lot of firewood complaints coming in, where firewood never arrived,” he said.

“I just caution the public to do their due diligence. If they've ever got any queries about a particular seller, seek some advice from family, or, if need be, come in and ask for some advice from the police station.”