£2.5m con on vulnerable people.
Police have smashed a gang of doorstep criminals thought to have swindled up to £2.5 million from vulnerable people across Scotland.
Reports state the year-long operation culminated in a series of dawn raids and 14 arrests.
The 13 men and one woman, all from the east of Scotland, are accused of preying on elderly and disable people by coercing them into parting with huge sums of cash.
The suspects are alleged to have posed as workmen and used cold calling tactics to swindle their victims.
Police have identified 54 possible victims, some of whom are as old as 90, who are said to have lost a total of £250,000. However, this sum is thought to be just 10% of the possible haul the gang made.
Many of the alleged victims, who come from across Scotland and the north of England, are said to have died or gone into care within months of being targeted. At least one is reported to have been left feeling suicidal.
Detective Inspector Stevie Hamilton, from Police Scotland’s Fife division, said the arrests were a milestone in the force’s nationwide probe, Operation Nominate.
DI Hamilton, who led the investigation, said the operation targeted “those who prey on the most vulnerable”.
He added: “Victims are being left bereft of self-confidence and divested of their savings by contemptible and despicable individuals solely focused on the attainment of power and profit.”
Police launched the operation last April in conjunction with Trading Standards after the Bank of Scotland reported suspicious activity on a pensioner’s bank account.
The conviction of a 37-year-old man for that crime then led police to launch a wider probe into similar crimes across the country.
Detectives believed a serious organised crime group was behind the scams and began scrutinising the background, finances and lifestyles of suspects, as well as mounting covert surveillance.
The 14 suspects are said to be facing more than 200 charges between them and could be handed double-figure jail sentences, if found guilty.
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