FIVE men who posed as police officers to swindle thousands of pounds out of unsuspecting residents have been jailed.

The group stole more than £40,000 after they tricked 11 people into handing over bank cards and PIN numbers.

Some 1,200 cold calls to members of the public had been made by the gang.

One one occasion they stole £5,000 from a Dedham resident and on another they took £7,000 from a family living in Steeple Bumpstead, near Halstead.

In all the offences they posed as police officers or bank staff and told their victims that their bank accounts had been infiltrated by thieves.

They usually claimed to be from the Metropolitan Police and used the names DC Lescott, DC, DS or DI Rogers or DI Maguire.

The tricksters claimed as part of their investigations they needed to do forensic tests of the victim’s bank cards and PIN numbers or large amounts of cash to be used for forensic tests.

Two of the group acted as couriers and collected cards and PIN numbers which were used immediately at cash machines near their victim’s homes.

Mohammed Miah, 21, of Coopers Lane, Kings Cross, Muhammad Ahmed, 22, of Hemingway Close, Gospel Oak, Motahir Rahman 23 of Kiln Place, Kentish Town, Dedar Ali, 20, of Cressfield Close and NW5, Mohammed Hussain 23, Malden Crescent, all admitted conspiracy to defraud between March and July 2014.

More than 80 officers from Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and the Metropolitan Police Service Police were involved in the searches of addresses in the Camden area.

The five men were sentenced at St Alban’s Crown Court today after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.

The judge, Stephen Warner, told the five he felt that it was warranted to make a departure from the sentencing guidelines to ensure the sentences reflected the seriousness of the offences.

He said: "These were mean and cynical offences deliberately planned to take advantage of the vulnerable and done to obtain financial gain. Those who commit these offences can expect substantial terms of imprisonment."

Miah who had supplied the hired cars used by the gang, was jailed for three years and seven months.

Ahmed, who had impersonated police officers down the phone, was jailed for three years and seven months.

Rahman, who was found with cards when he was arrested, was jailed for three years and four months.

Hussain, who had collected cards from people, was jailed for three years and nine months and Ali, who had got involved in the conspiracy to pay off £700 debt was jailed for three years and four months.