Scammers pretended to be police officers

A COURIER was employed by scammers pretending to be police officers who persuaded elderly men to hand over thousands of pounds in what they believed to be a genuine investigation.

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He later told police he travelled from London to Cardiff to collect the money and was told to “snatch” the cash by his employers.

Nawaf Abdullahi, 20, was part of an “elaborate fraud” which saw him attend the houses of two men in Cardiff in September, where he was instructed to take £16,000 from them each.

The victims, aged 80 and 78 respectively, received phone calls from people claiming to be police officers who were investigating a series of offences.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday, December 4 heard the victims thought they were helping who they believed to be the police.