An elderly couple from Honiton have been conned out of thousands of pounds by men pretending to be undercover detectives.
Police are carrying out house-to-house enquiries and checking CCTV footage in a bid to identify an Afro-Caribbean man and Middle Eastern male who called at the couple’s home over two evenings to pick up around £17,000 they duped from the pensioners.
The couple were scammed out of around £17,000 in total over two days after a man repeatedly telephoned them from a withheld number, claiming to be an undercover detective who was enrolling civilians to help him gather money to check for fake banknotes.
Police said an Afro-Caribbean man called the couple’s home in the evening on Wednesday, December 4, to pick up 7,000 euros, which a man on the phone had told them to gather.
The following day, December 5, the victim’s wife drove to several banks and building societies in the area to withdraw around £11,000, which they handed over to a Middle Eastern man who turned up at the couple’s home that evening.
Devon and Cornwall Police have launched an investigation and are appealing for information to identify the fraudsters.
A Devon and Cornwall Police spokesperson said: “An elderly couple from Honiton have a been swindled out of thousands of pounds after they were contacted by men pretending to be detectives.
“The couple received numerous calls from a withheld number where a man claimed to be a detective working undercover at the local police station.
“The man also claimed he was part of a national operation to identify counterfeit money within the local area and advised he was ‘recruiting’ the victims as undercover civilians to gather money to be checked.
“On Wednesday 4 December, the man asked the victim to gather seven thousand euros which was collected later that evening by an unknown man. He has since been described as being Afro-Caribbean.”
The spokesperson added: “On Thursday 5 December, a similar incident occurred where the victim was asked to gather more money. The victim’s wife drove to several local banks and building societies to withdraw approximately eleven thousand pounds.
“That evening, a different man attended the victims’ home and collected the money. He was described as being a Middle Eastern male.
“Police were later alerted and an investigation was launched. Enquiries are currently ongoing including house-to-house enquiries and checking local CCTV.”
If you have information to help police, call 101, or report it online, quoting reference 50240308379.
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