'Despicable' - Scammer posed as police detective to steal £27,000-worth of cash and jewellery from pensioner

Sharmarke Ahmed, 34, pretended to be a cop when he called the vulnerable victim - aged in her 90s - on March 5 at her home in Malpas, Cheshire. He told her criminals had been operating in her area and if she had any cash or jewellery at home, he would arrange for a ‘police officer’ to collect it to keep it safe.

The OAP then told Ahmed she had £11,000 in cash and various items of jewellery, valued at £16,000. During the call - which lasted for a number of hours - a password was set up so the victim knew the man who was coming to collect the items was ‘genuine’.

He then attended the woman's address posing as a fake officer and gave the password before she handed over the items. The court was told Ahmed was caught after a friend of the woman reported the incident to police.

Officers from Cheshire Police launched an investigation and found that the phone number which had contacted the victim was withheld. However checks revealed it was a prepay number that only became live on the day of the phone call and was traced back to the Brixton area of London.

Further enquires revealed the phone the number was attributed to travelled from London to Malpas on March 5. Ahmed was pictured then spotted on CCTV collecting the victim’s cash and jewellery. His description also matched the description of a man seen on footage at Chester Bus Station later that evening, departing on a coach heading back to London.

Following a number of enquiries, officers from the MET Police arrested Ahmed in London on April 1. Ahmed, of Wandsworth, South London, was jailed for 28 months at Chester Crown Court on October 23 after pleading guilty to 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.

“If you believe that you have been a victim of courier fraud, please contact Cheshire Police on 101, using a different phone to the one used to communicate with the fraudsters. You can also report information to us via cheshire.police.uk/tell-us.

“Call 999 immediately in an emergency or if you suspect a fraud is currently in progress. Do not wait to report the fraud to police. The quicker police are told, the more likely officers can identify those responsible.”