A woman has been scammed out of £30,000 after a fake BT caller remotely hacked into her computer.

The victim was targeted and phoned about her internet speed by a man claiming to be from BT's technical support team last Thursday.

He managed to convince the woman, from Stranraer, to give him a number of codes allowing him to get into her home computer and raid her bank accounts online.

The conman cleared her accounts of around £30,000 and it is believed a number of people are involved and have been contacting people across Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders in recent weeks.

Police have issued a warning to members of the public to be aware of cold callers claiming to be from BT.

A statement from Police Scotland said: "Another internet scam has netted almost £30,000 from a Stranraer woman who took a call from someone purporting to be from BT technical support about the speed of her internet on Thursday.

"He was able to remotely access her computer and got her to input a number of codes which he gave to her. The next day the lady discovered the money withdrawn from her bank accounts.

"This is the second such scam in a week involving cold callers saying they are from BT and looking to sort the victim's internet.

"Be very careful who you speak to when answering a cold call about your computer and never, never give out any personal or banking details if asked."