'Despicable' fraudster stole £26k in cash and jewellery from pensioner while posing as police officer

He told the pensioner that there had been numerous reports of criminals in her area, and that if she had any valuables at home, he would send someone over to collect them to keep them safe.

The victim told Ahmed that she had £16,000 worth of jewellery and £11,000 in cash at her property.

The 34-year-old spoke to the pensioner on the phone for several hours and established a "password" with her to convince her the "police officer" being sent to collect the items was genuine.

After Ahmed arrived at her property, he gave the "password" and took her valuables.

A friend of the pensioner called the police later that day.

Cheshire Constabulary went on to trace the number which contacted the victim back to an address in Brixton, south London.

CCTV footage showed Ahmed collecting the items before heading to Chester Bus Station and leaving on a coach back to the capital.

The fraudster was arrested on April 1 by the Metropolitan Police.

Ahmed appeared at Chester Crown Court on October 23, where he was sentenced to 28 months behind bars.

The 34-year-old previously pleaded guilty to one count of handling stolen goods.

Detective Constable Niall Dudley said: "Anyone can fall victim to courier fraud and sadly we have seen many incidents of this nature in the Cheshire area.

"We all react very differently under duress, and this is what these despicable criminals take advantage of.

“I am grateful that Ahmed has been jailed for his role in such an awful scam, targeting a vulnerable individual and preying on their good nature.

"But he underestimated the dedication of our officers in locating him, tracing him all the way to London where he was ultimately arrested.

“But Ahmed was just one piece of the puzzle and our fight against this type of crime is not over."

According to charity Independent Age, almost two million pensioners in Britain have been scammed, being defrauded out of an estimated total worth some £7.4billion.

The average cost per elderly victim is believed to be around £4,000.

Joanna Elson, the chief executive of Independent Age, said: “With two million older people in the UK living in poverty, any financial loss can be catastrophic. Older people often have a fixed income, and many are reliant on the State Pension.

"This means there are limited ways they can recoup the money lost as part of a scam - or may not be able to recoup it at all."

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