A local resident has been scammed out of nearly £100,000.

The resident was conned out of the cash by someone contacting them and asking them to invest in fine wines.

Perth and Kinross Council’s trading standards team is now warning other residents not to be taken in by such investment offers that seem too good to be true.

The victim of this scam, which happened in 2017, is now keen to share their experience to make sure no one else is affected.

The company appeared to be legitimate, and they were sent a glossy brochure inviting them to become an investor in fine wines, adding they could visit their London offices anytime, where they would be “well looked after” - the company’s address was given as Hatton Gardens.

A sales representative from the company built up a relationship with the resident and gained their trust.

There was “always an element of urgency” involved whenever the resident was contacted by the company, telling them other people were also interested in a specific wine and they would need to act fast if they wanted it.

While the resident did ask a trusted source questions about the investment company, the advice they received was incorrect and not sufficiently robust enough to prevent them losing a large amount of money.

The council’s trading standards team has been working with the trading standards team in Hertfordshire, and so far they have managed to recover £21,000 of the resident’s money.

It had turned out the Hatton Gardens address was a mail forwarding service, deliberately used to create a certain image in people’s minds of wealth, opulence and quality.

Cllr Peter Barrett, chair of the Perth and Kinross community safety partnership, now wants to warn other residents not to be taken in by such scams.

He said: “Investment scams, or ‘boiler room’ scams, come in many different guises offering investment in many different commodities including fine wine, parking spaces, burial plots, diamonds and carbon credits.

“The people running these scams will stop at nothing to get unsuspecting victims’ money.

“The newest product being offered is graphene, an actual substance but one that is not being mass produced.

“Investment in graphene is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority - so any investments made are completely unprotected.

“Operators of these scams are very good at building relationships with victims, taking time to talk to them and telling them about their fictitious family.

“They will often research the local area that the victim lives in and speak to them about their local football team for example.

“There is always an element of urgency and the victim is often told not to tell people about it, this is to stop victims having time to think about it properly or discuss it with someone else who may see through the scam.

“Our trading standards team would always advise anyone thinking about taking up a new investment or pension opportunity to seek professional advice before agreeing to anything or signing any paperwork.”

In most cases, these investments are not covered by the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and therefore any money invested is not protected in any way.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s website has a warning list regarding investments, pension opportunities and companies to avoid at www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart/warning-list