FIVE men who posed as police and bank staff to trick elderly and vulnerable people out of more than £40,000 in an elaborate phone scam have been jailed for a combined 17-and-a-half years.
The London gang members made more than 1,200 cold calls in which they told potential victims their banks accounts had been targeted by thieves.
Of those, they managed to convince 11 people into handing over their bank cards and pin numbers, before draining their accounts of more than £40,000.
One elderly woman in Hertfordshire lost more than £20,000 when the gang members called her every day for 30 days asking for more cash.
Mohammed Miah, 21, of Coopers Lane, Kings Cross, Muhammad Ahmed, 22, of Hemingway Close, Gospel Oak, London, Motahir Rahman, 23, of Kiln Place, Kentish Town, Dedar Ali, 20, of Cressfield Close, London, Mohammed Hussain, 23, of Malden Crescent, Shepherds Bush, all admitted conspiracy to defraud, between March and July 2014.
Miah and Hussain posed as couriers, picking up the cards and cash, while the others posed as police officers.
Detective Inspector Danny Lawrence, who leads the ERSOU Cyber Crime Unit, said: "These men preyed on the elderly and vulnerable and took advantage of people's trusting nature. They left the victims and their families in a great deal of distress by committing these frauds and this has been reflected in today's sentencing.
"I hope this sends out a clear message to anyone thinking about becoming involved in organised crime and, particularly in this case, phone scams. We will identify you and we will bring you to court.
"These arrests were made following effective partnership and collaboration through ERSOU where a number of police forces are working together. This should reinforce the message that the eastern region is a hostile place for organised crime and we will continue to identify, disrupt and dismantle any organised crime groups."
The gang members claimed to be from the Metropolitan Police and used the names DC Lescott, DC, DS or DI Rogers or DI Maguire, and told victims they needed to do forensic tests on bank cards or cash.
One victim in Dedham lost £5,000 on March 24, while three members of the same family in Steeple Bumpstead were tricked on March 30, losing £7,000.
Of the other victims, two were from Hastings, two in Bishops Stortford, Herts, one each in Bedford, Basingstoke, Thame, Oxfordshire, and one attempted theft at Felixstowe, Suffolk.
Four of the men were arrested in July after search warrants were executed in north London during an operation by officers from the Eastern Regional Special Operations Unit, which set up a special taskforce in March to investigate the rapidly-spreading fraud.
A fifth man, Ali, was arrested in October.
More than 80 officers from Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and the Metropolitan Police Service, were involved in the searches of addresses in the Camden area.
Numerous phones and computers were seized by the regional team, which was set up to investigate hundreds of similar frauds and attempted frauds being carried out across East Anglia.
The five men were sentenced at St Alban's Crown Court today, Monday, February 2, after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.
The judge, Stephen Warner, strayed from the sentencing guidelines to ensure the sentences reflected the seriousness of the offences, telling the men: "These were mean and cynical offences deliberately planned to take advantage of the vulnerable and done to obtain financial gain. Those who commit these offences can expect substantial terms of imprisonment."
Miah who had supplied the hired cars used by the gang, was jailed for three years and seven months.
Ahmed, who had impersonated police officers down the phone, was jailed for three years and seven months.
Rahman, who was found with cards when he was arrested, was jailed for three years and four months.
Hussain, who had collected cards from people, was jailed for three years and nine months and Ali, who had got involved in the conspiracy to pay off £700 debt was jailed for three years and four months.
