A PENSIONER who was targeted by scammers is warning others not to fall for the same con.

The 76-year-old woman, who asked not to be named, was phoned by conmen claiming to be from the tax office.

Luckily she immediately became suspicious and hung up.

"It is an official sounding voice saying they were from HMRC," said the woman.

"They said I was going to be involved in a law suit and to press '1' for further information.

"I thought it was a scam straight away and hung up.

"But it frightened me.

"My husband and I are elderly. To put my mind at rest we rang up the woman who does our tax returns and she said it was a scam and not to worry about it.

"I asked her if she had heard about it before but she said only emails and not phone calls."

The woman, from Walton, added: "I had a scam before that said money had been put in my bank account and needed to be retrieved.

"I'm lucky that I'm not alone and I've got my husband.

"But this could worry the hell out of anyone really elderly and on their own because it sounded so official.

"I just want to alert everyone."

The charity Tax Volunteers runs a free tax advice service for the elderly.

It said: "There is currently a telephone scam where a recorded message is left, allegedly from HMRC, stating that HMRC are bringing a lawsuit against the individual and is going to sue them.

"The recipient is asked to phone 0161 8508494 and press '1' to speak to the officer dealing with the case.

"This scam is becoming widely reported and seems to be targeting older people. Please do not reply to the message."

HMRC urges people to report misleading websites, emails, phone numbers, phone calls or text messages that seem suspicious.

Its website says: "Don’t give out private information such as bank details or passwords, reply to text messages, download attachments or click on any links in emails if you’re not sure they’re genuine."