Mr Whelan said he was "saddened by the act of these low lives", who spent several hours speaking to the victim and directing him to take the phone off the hook while leaving the computer on, which continued to be operated remotely.
Despite having not given over passwords, the victim admitted to sharing his BNZ Netguard number, which can be used to access personal bank accounts.
The incident, which played out between 9am and 11pm before the man became suspicious and checked his bank account to find the money gone, saw the scammers phone the man back up to seven times following taking his funds.
Currently locked out of his computer, with the scammers continuing to use it, bank staff stopped any access to his accounts and it is now up to BNZ as to whether or not the man will be compensated.
Mr Whelan said the victim, who did not want to be named and had not told his family, was not alone in falling for scammers' ploys.
"Research indicates it's the elderly being most targeted and there are a whole range of scams, including online dating scams.
"We got a call recently from a very concerned daughter who lives in our district, who thinks her father might be falling prey to one of these online dating scams.
"Basically what happens is victims come across these sites and next minute they're in contact with women overseas, and build a friendship over the internet, and slowly but surely the person alleging to be a female starts asking for money.
"According to Consumer Affairs, online dating scams had cost New Zealanders 2.2 million in 2012."
Kapiti Senior Sergeant Anita Dixon said she hoped community awareness would prevent further victimisation of elderly folk.
"Offenders are internationals, so the most police can do is send out a crime prevention message.
"The sad thing this is that the money is not always recoverable, and it comes at huge financial losses at critical time for elderly people."
