VULNERABLE members of the community are those "most at risk" of falling prey to fraudsters, with the number of cases still high.

Community Inspector Hazel Crielly told councillors at the Cowdenbeath area committee meeting that the online scammers were the most "difficult to detect".

In a report she said: "Online and telephone fraud continues to be prevalent across the country with vulnerable members of the community most at risk. 

"These types of crimes range from online sexual exploitation through contact on social media applications, where they coerce the victims into sharing intimate photos and then attempt to extort money through the threat of disclosing the images, to messages purporting to be from apparently reputable companies whom the individual may well have had previous interaction with. 

"These types of crimes are normally perpetrated by groups outwith the UK.

"This makes it difficult to detect and causes significant distress and embarrassment to the victims as well as potential monetary loss."

Community policing teams and divisional community safety officers have been circulating national crime prevention messages in the media to raise awareness and hopefully prevent further crimes taking place.