A scam artist who posed as a police officer in order to get an OAP to hand over his bank details has been jailed.

Mohammad Masood, 27, had been due to stand trial on allegations he defrauded three old men out of account details using the ‘fake cop’ con.

But when he pleaded guilty to one offence of fraud, prosecutors said they would not fight the remaining two counts to trial.

On July 8, 2019, together with other unknown members of the gang, Masood told his victim that his bank account had been ‘compromised’ and he needed to help the police investigate the fraud by providing his bank card details and his pin numbers. The victim has since died.

At Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday, Masood, of St Bartholomews Road, London, was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment. He must pay £1,000 costs.

Det Sgt Steven Bates said: “Thankfully the victim in this case was aware that the call he received was not genuine and was able to contact us so that we could bring Masood to justice.

“Masood attempted to take advantage of an innocent member of the public in order to take money from him.

“The police will never ask you to move money to a safe account, ask you to reveal your banking PIN or full password or send anyone to your house to collect cards, cash or jewellery.

“You can protect yourself and your money and contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve fallen victim to a scam and make a report to Action Fraud.”

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