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Police have urged members of the public to protect themselves against "fraudsters" claiming to represent HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The warning follows several reports of incidents in east Belfast on Friday.

Police said that on each occasion an elderly person was contacted by telephone, by an "aggressive male" claiming to be from HMRC.

They were threatened with arrest and legal action in an "attempt to coerce (them) to pay a non-existent debt".

No personal details were given or payments made, and each incident was reported to police.

Ch Insp David Moore said: "HMRC will never contact you by telephone and ask for payment of tax arrears or threaten you with arrest.

"Scammers are inventive and can be very convincing, but each scam is designed to tempt you to drop your guard.

"If you are at all suspicious about a call that you receive, hang up and phone the organisation that the person is purporting to represent to check their authenticity.

"Ideally make the call from another telephone so you can be sure the original caller has not remained on the line".