Fraudsters swindle elderly couple out of £16,000

An elderly couple have been swindled out of thousands of pounds after they were contacted by men pretending to be detectives, police have said.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the couple, from Honiton, received numerous calls from a withheld number where a man claimed to be a detective working undercover at the local police station.

The man said he was part of a national operation to identify counterfeit money and advised he was "recruiting" the victims as undercover civilians to gather money to be checked.

Officers said they were alerted to the situation after the victims handed over more than £16,000 earlier this month.

Investigation launched

"On Wednesday 4 December, the man asked the victim to gather €7,000 (£5,780) which was collected later that evening by an unknown man who has since been described as being Afro-Caribbean," Devon and Cornwall Police said.

"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 £11,000.

"That evening, a different man attended the victims' home and collected the money, he was described as being a Middle Eastern male."

An investigation has been launched and inquiries are currently ongoing.

Police have asked anyone with information specific to this case to contact 101.