IS Militants Linked To Cold-Calling Scam

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of money laundering by police investigating an alleged scam by extremists travelling to Syria.

Police said the fraud targeted "unsuspecting vulnerable and elderly victims" who were called at home by a person claiming to be a police officer.

The caller told them their bank account had been compromised and encouraged them to transfer money to an account under the control of the fraudsters.

One elderly man lost approximately £150,000 as a result of the fraud.

The three men, two aged 23 and 29 - were arrested during searches at addresses in west and east London earlier today.

They are being held at a police station in south London.

Officers from the Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) also executed search warrants at two addresses in north London, one in west London and one in southeast London.

Searches at all six addresses are ongoing, according to a statement released by the Met Police.

The statement added that people should be aware of cold-calling scams and never share their pin number over the phone.

"Members of the public are strongly advised, if you receive a call like this from someone claiming to be a police officer, (to) hang up the phone," it said.

"(Then) wait at least five minutes to make sure the phone line has cleared, or use another phone line, before ringing the phone number on your bank card."

Sky's Mark White said: "It's part of a huge investigation into large-scale fraud that is being used to fund extremists travelling out to Syria to fight alongside the likes of Islamic State.

"You would think that people probably wouldn't fall for this, and I'm sure that most people don't.

"But vulnerable, unsuspecting, elderly people sometimes do."