BITCOIN scammers have taken £20,000 from an investor prompting police to warn others locally.

Thames Valley Police said the victim put forward thousands of pounds only to be told he was left with just £19.18.

It comes as police say there has been two scams of this kind locally in two weeks.

The victim invested £200 in Bitcoin, and was then contacted by an investment company who he had to sign up with.

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He was told to invest more money and he transferred the company £20,000.

The victim then heard his trading account had doubled and was now worth £41,532 so he asked the company to sell everything, close his account and send the money to him. 

But the company told him his investment value had gone down and it was now only worth £19.18.

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When he tried to send the company more money to regain investment, the bank had suspected it was a scam and suspended his account.

The bank then instigated the banking protocol, refused to reopen his account and called the police.

The police and bank were unable to convince the victim that this was a scam and officers are now warning others to be on their guard.

Officers explained the companies normally start with small transactions so banks are not alerted that it’s a scam.