Two of three men arrested in connection with a scam cheating elderly victims out of their life savings and using the money to fund terrorism in Syria have been bailed.

Counter terrorism police arrested two men, followed soon after by a third, on Wednesday (March 5), all on suspicion of money laundering.

Two of the men, aged 37 and 29, were caught at addresses in west London, while the third, aged 23, was found in east London.

The 29- and 23-year-olds have been bailed to return to a south London police station in early April pending further enquiries, while the 37-year-old remains in custody, also at a south London police station.

Police have now completed searches at seven addresses across London, but continue to search one property in west London.

The arrests – made under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) – form part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command (SO15).

Officers say they have uncovered a "large-scale" fraud targeting vulnerable and elderly victims, who are cold-called at home by a criminal impersonating a police officer.

The victims are told their bank account has been compromised and are then tricked into transferring money. One elderly victim lost around £150,000, police said.

In a statement, the Met said: “Members of the public are strongly advised, if you receive a call like this from someone claiming to be a police officer, hang up the phone, 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.”

For more information, download a copy of The Little Book of Big Scams by clicking here.