A GANG of fraudsters who stole more than £120,000 from elderly people – including two from South Woodford – have been sentenced.

The two victims from South Woodford, aged 69 and 85, were each conned out of £15,000.

Ten men, from Ilford, Manor Park and Chadwell Heath, were sentenced to between four months and three years in prison.

The gang used an elaborate trick to gain their elderly victims' trust. They telephoned each victim and posed as a police officer investigating a fraud on their bank account, before asking for their details.

They would then visit their victim's home to take their bank cards, claiming they needed to use them in the investigation, and would give them a fake crime reference number before asking them to put their card in an envelope with the pin number written on the back.

Before leaving they would tell the victim not to tell anyone about the incident as it would 'jeopardise the investigation'.

The fraudsters would then use the cards in shops or to place bets in bookmakers.

The men – aged from 20 to 43 – conned more than £120,000 from 13 elderly people across Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Havering and Enfield between October 2008 and April 2009.

They included one 95-year-old from Ilford who lost almost £16,000.

Detective Inspector Chris Krelle, who led the investigation, said: “These cowardly offences were being committed against the most frail and vulnerable people in our communities.

“The successful conclusion of Operation Ferres has seen the dismantling of an organized crime group which have been deemed so serious the majority of those convicted received custodial sentences.”

The men committed between one and three counts of conspiracy to defraud. Some received suspended sentences while other will begin their terms immediately.