Island residents are being warned of a person making phone calls falsely claiming to be from Manx Telecom in an attempt to steal money from them.

Police and Manx Telecom are asking the public to stay vigilant and to warn any vulnerable or elderly friends and relatives, as people have been routinely losing large amounts of money in scams.

’Its something we need to work together to stop,’ a police spokesman said.

Manx Telecom has provided advice to any unplanned phone calls that are suspicious.

In a statement it said if you are suspicious that a caller is claiming to be someone they are not, the best option is to ’end the call immediately’.

’If you want to then call Manx Telecom, use a different phone to the one on which you received the suspicious call - for example, if the suspicious call was on your home landline phone, call Manx Telecom on 01624 624624 using your mobile,’ a spokesman said.

’Some sophisticated scammers can make calls which appear to be from legitimate sources - so your phone may show that an incoming call is from a number you know and trust, but it may in fact be a scam call.

’Scammers can use "phone spoofing" - that means they keep the line to them open even after you put the phone down and think the call has ended.

’If you think you have received a scam call, and need to use the same phone on which you received that call, trying phoning a friend to check that the scammers have not kept the line open.’