POLICE officers have issued a warning to residents living in the district who sell electronic items online before allowing the buyer to ‘pay’ via bank transfer.

Essex Police Tendring has been receiving more and more reports of people being scammed after listing items such as mobile phones and laptops on social media.

According to the force, people have been attending the addresses of the sellers to collect the listed goods before requesting to pay by bank transfer.

The so-called buyers are then said to ‘pay’ on the doorstep before claiming the payment can take as long as three hours to process.

Many sellers in Tendring, however, have reported the payment never arriving, by which time the buyer has already left with the items leaving residents empty handed.

Officers from Essex Police’s Tendring Team has now urged residents in the district to be more vigilant and use more precautionary methods when selling items online.

A spokesman said: “Remember if you are selling an item, arrange an instant payment, consider using cash or an instant payment service.

“Alternatively, wait for the payment to go through, most transfers should be quite quick, don't let the person leave with the item without knowing you have received the payment.”

For more advice can be found by visiting essex.police.uk/fraud.