Three "heartless" fraudsters who pretended to be police officers to trick pensioners out of £416,000 in an "elaborate" scam have been jailed. 'Ring leader' Faris Kayani "targeted" elderly people by calling them up and informing them they had been victims of fraud before asking them to "assist" an investigation by withdrawing cash so it could be checked for counterfeit notes. The 30-year-old would send members of his gang over to the houses of his victims - who had an average age of 78 - to collect their money and valuable items.

One 85-year-old victim told a court hearing that she felt 'completely paralysed' when she realised she had been scammed out of cash which she had put aside for her funeral. After pleading guilty to fraud, Kayani and two of his accomplices - Saqib Mahmood, 28, Luc Williams, 24 - have been jailed for a combined total of more than 12 years for the 'despicable' act. Salisbury Crown Court heard the group used four telephone headsets operating from Reading town centre, Berks, and called the victims whilst pretending to be police officers. The fraudsters told the victims that they had been a victim of fraud, or that the police were investigating staff at their local bank for committing fraud. They told them to call 999 from their phone to verify the identity of the caller.

But, it was heard the line was intentionally kept open by the scammer and the call was not disconnected. This led the victims to believe they had made a new call and that they were speaking to a legitimate officer, however they were still speaking with the scammer. They were asked by the fraudsters to 'assist' a police investigation and to withdraw money so it could be checked for counterfeit notes and be sent for fingerprint analysis. Some victims were persuaded that the contents of safety deposit boxes, which contained expensive jewellery, were 'not safe' where they were and 'couriers' were sent to their house to collect the money and items.

The group attempted to scam at least 42 people - with an average age of 78 - with the oldest being 90 and the youngest aged 57. They managed to get money and expensive jewellery from 27 victims living in Hampshire, London, Surrey, Kent and Sussex. The total amount received was £116,000 in cash, while two victims gave them jewellery estimated to be worth a minimum of £300,000. Members of the organised crime gang were eventually arrested for the offences, which took place between February and September 2021, and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

One of the victims, an 85-year-old woman from Church Crookham, in Fleet, lost £4,200 after she was contacted by a man who pretended to be a police officer. One of her banks has refunded £3,200. She said: "After I realised that what had happened to me was a scam, I felt completely paralysed. It is a despicable thing to do, to pretend to be someone from the police and then scam someone. "I am and have always been a peaceful person, but thinking of the people who have done this to me and many other people makes me so angry. I spent the initial weeks after the incident unable to sleep for thinking about what had happened.

"I now have little faith left in my fellow human beings - I come from an era where this sort of thing just didn't happen. I am a pensioner, I do not have money spare to be able to lose it to scams. The £4,200 I had taken from me was money I had set aside for the future and predominantly to be able to pay for my own funeral. I worried that the expense of my funeral might fall to someone else to deal with. I should not have to deal with that stress at my age.".

A 75-year-old woman from the Alton area, also Hants, lost £8,850 but thankfully has had it all refunded by her bank. She said: "I tried to tell myself that I had been fortunate not to be a victim of a violent crime, but in some ways I imagine this was just as bad. "I had horrible thoughts about how my money might be being used to finance crime and this caused me to lose a lot of sleep. I understand that everyone needs to earn a living and provide for their families, but there must be better ways than exploiting and victimising people who've never done you any harm.".

Kayani was jailed five years and six months and his accomplices, Mahmood and Williams, were handed custodial sentences of three years and seven months. Detective Constable Michael Dumbleton, from Hampshire Constabulary, said: "This was an elaborate and incredibly heartless scam run by an Organised Crime Gang who preyed on elderly people living in a number of counties. Their despicable actions had a huge impact on many victims who have not only seen a huge financial loss, but have also been left with psychological damage as a result of a cruel and wicked scam. I urge anyone who has an elderly relative to make them aware of this type of fraud as soon as possible.".