Residents in the Scottish Borders are facing a heightened fraud risk due to a new credit card phone scam.

Householders in the region have been offered non-existent council tax refunds of up to £3,000, the BBC reported.

Callers are also asking victims for their debit or credit card account details to assist with the repayments process.

Residents have been warned that they should ignore the calls and that it is not Scottish Borders Council (SBC) policy to ask for card numbers in this way.

Speaking to the broadcaster, Paula Clark at SBC's Safer Communities Team, said that householders should never offer cold callers sensitive information in this way.

"If anyone has passed bank or credit card details to anyone recently regarding a refund they should contact their bank branch or card company immediately.This is yet another scam where fraudsters will go to any length to get bank information," she said.

News of the calls follow an official warning from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over a recent spate of emails offering non-existent tax refunds in exchange for credit card details.

The tax authority said that 83,000 of the messages had been recorded over September 2009, including 10,000 in a single day.