The Met Police said it had seized more than £250,000 in cash and hundreds of bank cards and phones in recent weeks as part of a crackdown on courier fraud.

Officers arrested 18 people believed to be behind sophisticated fraud scams, with the oldest victim affected aged 101.

Courier fraud is where fraudsters contact victims by telephone impersonating trusted authorities such as the police or bank officials. They will deceive them into withdrawing cash or handing over bank cards - or trick them into buying and handing over expensive jewellery.

Det Supt Kerry Wood said it was a "devastating crime which can deprive vulnerable people of their livelihoods, pensions and hard-earned savings".

According to the Met, 80% of victims are over the age of 65.

One victim, Andrew Quicke, said he got a call from someone posing as a police officer, saying that they were tracing bank fraud and printing fake money.

"I was asked to go and get £5,600 in cash and they would check the numbers.

"And if I doubted their veracity, they gave me a 999 number to call, which I think actually was just calling them. So I assumed they were police," he said.

"I got the money from my bank and they said somebody would come and collect it in due course. Somebody arrived and they did collect it at night and it was hard to see them.

"So then the following day and they asked me to get some more money tomorrow, £9,000.

"So I said yes, I'll go down to the bank. But the second day I did mention this to my son, who said I'd be conned, that this was a scam."

Mr Quicke kept the scam going with the police's involvement, managing to bring the criminals to justice, the Met said.

'We will investigate'

The operation also uncovered a suspected multi-million-pound organised crime network, alleged to have tricked victims into sending their bank cards to various addresses across London.

Four men have since been charged with fraud and another three people have been charged for concealing stolen goods.

Det Supt Wood said: "We've arrested a number of individuals as part of our targeted operation, but the work doesn't stop here and our officers will continue to pursue those who ruthlessly target our communities via sophisticated scams.

"Our message to criminals should be clear - we will investigate, arrest and put you before the courts."

The Met Police has been working alongside the City of London Police plus banks, businesses and community groups as part of the operation. (BBC)

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