A FOREST woman has warned others about phone scammers after a ‘nightmare’ 20-minute call.

The woman, who has asked not to be named, says she was threatened with going to prison and having her property seized by an aggressive scammer.

She is concerned that more vulnerable people could comply with their demands for thousands of pounds.

The scammer called the woman, who lives in the Mitcheldean area, on her mobile phone and demanded she pay more than £2,000 in what he claimed was unpaid tax.

The scammer used an 0300 number and the woman is urging others to be wary of calls from similar numbers.

She contacted the Tax Office which, she said, was very good in explaining that they would never make such demands over the telephone.

All genuine contacts from HMRC have a number of security features to guard against fraud.

The woman revealed: “It was a nightmare 20-minute phone call.

“He asked me to verify my address and said I owed £2,100 in unpaid tax.

“They said the police would come around to my house and I would go to prison. I was also told that they would take my property,” she added.

“I’m pretty switched on but I still found it frightening.

“I’m concerned that they may try the same thing with vulnerable people and that they may be scared into doing what they say,” she warned.