Scammers pretending to be police officers target elderly in western Sweden

The hoax calls have been directed at elderly people in western Sweden. Several have been terrified by the calls, police say on their website.

"Imagine you get a phone call like this from someone who says that now you are next in line. At the same time, you are asked if you keep gold at home, and that someone from the police should come to your home and secure the valuables," says Fredrika Selander at the regional fraud section.

Three people were arrested last week in Halland and found with items worth an estimated several hundred thousand kronor. A man suspected of making the calls was arrested a few days later in Stockholm.