Pensioners scammed by jihadist cold-callers

GANGS of jihadist cold-callers are targeting British pensioners to help to fund terrorism in the Middle East, a report has found.

The confidence tricksters pose as staff from the victims’ bank and send fake couriers to collect their cards and details. The money – which runs to hundreds of thousands of pounds – is then sent to jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq by wire transfers, according to the report by the Financial Action Task Force.

Concerns were also raised over the abuse of crowdfunding websites and virtual currencies to fund terrorist groups.

The money is sent in small amounts – the low thousands or as little as £500 (NZ$1126) – to avoid scrutiny.

London-based networks are known to have targeted individuals in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Kent, Bedfordshire and London, according to the task force, an inter-governmental group representing 36 countries, including the US, Russia and most of Europe.

The report states: ‘‘UK-based extremists have adopted the organised crime group tactic of targeting vulnerable individuals with phone calls purporting to be either police or banking officials.

‘‘They are informed that their accounts have been compromised and are persuaded to either transfer money into accounts controlled by the suspects or to withdraw the cash. A courier from the criminal network is then dispatched to the victims’ home address and picks up the cash.

‘‘How the victims are selected is unclear but it may be as simple as online telephone directories filtered to regions for a retirement age demographic.’’