WESTPORT — A scammer — demanding ransom from a woman whose daughter he claimed to be holding hostage — nearly convinced the woman to drain her account at a local bank Thursday before a bank employee and police stepped in to thwart the scheme.

Police, in a statement Friday, issued a warning underscoring the danger posed by false hostage-taking scams and similar shakedown efforts to swindle unsuspecting residents.

At least three other scams were prevented by alert bank employees, like the one averted Thursday at the local M&T Bank office, over the last week alone, according to the warning.

The incident Thursday unfolded when police were called to the M&T office, where employees reported they believed a woman was being targeted by a scammer.

The woman earlier had received a call from a man who said that he and her daughter had been involved in a motor vehicle accident, and that he was holding her daughter hostage, according to the report. 

The caller demanded that the woman “withdraw as much money as she could in exchange for the safe return of her daughter,” police said.

In the background of the call, the scammed woman said she could hear a woman screaming.

The man also told the woman not to call or text anyone about the extortion attempt.

At the bank, as the visibly upset woman made arrangements to withdraw all the money from her account, an employee “questioned the victim about the withdrawal and immediately recognized it to be a scam,” police said.

Bank officials contacted police, and they were able to convince the woman to call her daughter, who was at work and unharmed.

In the aftermath of Thursday’s incident and similar scams attempted recently, police issued the following advisory:

• Do not send money or gift cards to an unknown person.

• Try to contact anyone who is said to be in danger before sending money.

• Call police if you are unable to contact the person allegedly in danger.

• Report any potential scam.