Scammers' wrong number - hello Mr Plod

Senior constable Dave Colville is bemused that an international phone scammer would call the Richmond Community Police Station. Photo /Waimea Weekly

International phone scammers dialled the wrong number when they called a police station in Nelson.

Richmond community Constable Glen Lloyd Jones had just got off the phone to a woman reporting a phone scam when his phone rang again.

This time it was an overseas call requesting to speak to the "main user" of his computer.

"I kept telling them 'you do realise you've called the police don't you?' But he just wanted to talk to my main repairer," Mr Lloyd Jones said.

He eventually hung up on the phone scammer but said the experience highlighted warnings that they could target anyone at random.

The phone scammers were believed to be after credit card details from their victims.

"They're really pushy and they make people think they have to give their card over. It's just the way they're talking to you," Mr Lloyd Jones said.

Phone scammers are not a new thing, and in the past have used techniques pretending the receiver had won a competition.

"We get it a lot. More people are coming forward and reporting it but I think that's just because word is getting around."

Because the phone scammers were based overseas, it was "near impossible" to investigate as there is different jurisdiction in a foreign country.