EIGHT people have been arrested after “abhorrent fraudsters” targeted 17 pensioners in the Tyne Valley.

Northumbria Police was contacted by a 72-year-old woman from Hexham earlier this week, informing officers that scammers purporting to be police officers had called her claiming she had fallen victim to fraud.

The woman was told she needed to withdraw a lump sum and hand it to the courier - who would hand-deliver it to ‘detectives.’ Sensing something wasn’t right - she hung up and swiftly dialled 101.

An investigation into the fraud was immediately launched and detectives soon uncovered a further 16 residents in the Hexham area, aged between 57 and 92 had also been approached by the scammers.

Thankfully none of the residents handed over any money. A number of suspects were soon identified and officers from Northumbria Police travelled to London where, with the help of a specialist team from the Metropolitan Police, six men believed to be linked to the conspiracy were arrested in the London area.

Two more men were later arrested in the Hexham area. All eight remain in police custody.

Following the arrests, Superintendent Paul Stewart of Northumbria Police said: “We have seen a recent spate of courier fraud across our force area and would like to praise the countless residents who have continued to recognise and report this to us.

“Again and again we are seeing these abhorrent fraudsters targeting some of the most vulnerable in our community - trying to benefit from their isolation and fear at an already difficult time. This type of behaviour is disgusting and we will not tolerate it in our region.

“These arrests are a great result for us but our investigation is far from over -we would urge anyone affected by this to get in touch and help us put a stop to this type of criminality once and for all.”

The operation follows another spate of courier frauds which saw five arrested in January after a pensioner in South Tyneside handed over £7,500 to scammers.

Supt Stewart added: “Criminals are experts at impersonating people, organisations and the police. They spend hours researching you for their scams, hoping you’ll let your guard down for a moment.”

To report anything suspicious, call police on 101 or Action Fraud immediately by calling 0300 123 2040.