Police are warning web users in East Cambridgeshire to beware of a new ‘work from home’ scam.

Officers say fraudsters are duping people into selling items on internet auctions sites on their behalf, with a promise of a cut of the profits.

But the items being sold don’t exist and sellers run the risk of having their bank account closed while fraudsters make off with the cash.

A spokesman for Action Fraud, the police’s cyber crime arm, said: “The scam involves a job offer to sell desirable items at below market value and receive money from any potential buyers.

“The ‘work from home’ job will usually require retaining 10 per cent of the money received as a salary and fraudsters will ask that the remaining funds are sent to them via bank transfer or money transfer.

“In these cases the proposed items being sold do not exist and are therefore not dispatched to the proposed buyers.

“This will usually result in the buyer making a complaint concerning the individual who has listed the items. This can result in your bank account being closed by the bank for suspected fraud or money laundering and being held accountable for reimbursing the potential buyers.”

For more information, or to report an incident of online crime, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.