POLICE have warned Scots to be vigilant after a scam message claiming to be from Amazon has begun “impacting” on the force.

Police Scotland put out the warning on their social media channels on Friday after being made aware of a new text messaging scam.

Fraudsters claiming to be from Amazon have been sending the messages out and asking people to call an 01786 number.

The area code, which links to the Stirling area, is also used by Police Scotland for many of their contact lines, including their non-emergency number and their media office.

As such, the force said thousands of calls from people hooked by the fake messages were "coming into our service advisors and it’s impacting services”.

They urged people to “please ignore” any messages claiming to be from Amazon and asking that a 01786 number be called.

“This message is a scam”, they added.

Police later said that their number being affected by the scam has been “temporarily suspended”.

Assistant Chief Constable John Hawkins said: “We became aware of a scam affecting calls to one of our 01786 numbers, which we have temporarily suspended.

"The scam resulted in more than 4000 additional calls to our contact centres. Despite these additional calls, our call handlers have continued to maintain a consistent and professional level of service to those in our communities calling 999 for urgent police assistance.

“I would like to reassure everyone that our 101 and 999 service is still in operation.

“I would also make a plea to anyone who wants to report being affected by this scam to please do so via the Contact Us portal on our website. There is no need to attend police stations or call us about it.

"Officers are now investigating this scam and enquiries are at an early stage."

Further information on how to protect yourself from fraud can be found on the Police Scotland website here.