An Exmouth woman is warning people to be vigilant after she was targeted by a telephone scam.

The woman, who has asked not to be identified, received a phone call from a man who claimed to be from her electricity supplier.

He said he could reduce her bill by 40 per cent by sending her a plug-in device, and asked for her credit card details.

The woman, who initially found the caller’s story to be plausible, gave him her date of birth and card expiry date, but refused to give the card number, despite being asked for it several times.

When the caller had hung up, she became suspicious and called her electricity supplier British Gas, who confirmed the caller was nothing to do with them and passed the case to their fraud department.

The woman is now warning other people to learn from her close call, and not to reveal any card details over the phone.

The woman said: “Unfortunately, I did give him some details, but I wouldn’t give him the number on the front of the card.

“He was very insistent, and talked as if I was being very silly.

“Later on I just thought ‘My goodness, that was stupid’ because the things he was saying were ridiculous.”

A spokesperson for British Gas said: “When we contact our customers, it is generally for a specific purpose, and we do not ask customers to give us their credit card details as part of these calls.

“We are aware of this scam and if customers think they are being targeted, they should end the call.

“If in doubt, do not give credit card details over the phone. If you think you were contacted, telephone British Gas and we will check our records to confirm whether we have been in touch.”