Cheshire Police have shared a warning about a scam - and it's hard to believe anyone could ever fall for it.

A fraudulent bank letter has been sent to homeowners, asking them to send back their debit cards as they are at risk of 'catching fire'.

The return address for 'Mr Smith', an alleged debit card safety manager at Barclays, is on Bangalore Lane, Bangalore, India.

The force posted about the scam on its Facebook page at 4pm on Thursday.

They shared a photo of the letter, which read: "Many of our bank costumers(sic) have reported that their debit cards have caught fire while they are in wallets and purses, and so as a precushion(sic) we are issuing an URGENT safety recall.

"This is a matter of the uppermost emergency as your card could create a pocket fire at any given moment, burning your legs and stomach terribly. This is because of a fault in the factory process at our debit card factory in Molton Keynes(sic).

"Therefore, for your own safety and verification, please complete the bottom of this form, and return it with your debit card to the safety manager."

Writing on Facebook, Cheshire Police wrote: "As far as scams go, we think this one will take some beating...



This letter from 'Mr Smith' at 'Barclays' is warning people about Spontaneous Debit Card Combustion...that's debit cards... catching fire.

(Image: Cheshire Police)





"Usually our advice would be to take five before giving anyone your bank details, but we would like to think this one was pretty obvious."