Two fraudsters have been arrested after an elderly woman fell victim to a scam, losing £1,000.

The 89-year-old victim had answered a phone call from fraudsters claiming they were ringing from Barclays Bank, telling her she needed to post her bank cards to an address so they could be protected from fraud.

She was told that once she had posted her cards to an address in Merseyside they would be ‘protected’ and sent back to her.

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Sadly, she fell victim to the scam, and posted the cards to an address in St Helens.

A few days later she went to her bank to ask about her cards and the scam was uncovered.

£1,000 had already been taken from her accounts.

Police launched investigations and the cards were tracked down after being used at two addresses in London and one in Leicester. The address they were posted to was then also uncovered.

A cross-force operation between Cleveland Police and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit arrested two men at the address.

Officers seized £1,600 cash and paperwork which it they hope will allow them to track down other victims.  They were also found to have more than £10,000 in their bank accounts, which police are trying to freeze.

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The two men have both been bailed pending further enquiries.

Investigating Officer, Fraud Investigation Team Detective Constable Michelle Dack said: “Thankfully we managed to stop the fraudsters from stealing any more money from the victim - and we prevented further people from being scammed.

“The victim also received back the money that was stolen from her.”