A GANG of misfit crooks have been banged up for 13 years thanks to a 62-year-old Miss Marple who cottoned on to their scheme before it was too late.

The fraudsters tried to scam Pamela Stokes out of £7,500 – but as she watched her mother’s inheritance being driven off in a taxi she realised she had been duped.

Ms Stokes, 62, immediately turned to the police and thanks to her information cops managed to catch the fiendish foursome and charge them with 81 counts of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Police managed to intercept the taxi, replacing the driver with one of their own plain clothes officers, and catching the crooks red-handed.

The gang snared their victims by phoning them and posing as police officers – in Ms Stokes’ case as PC Ian Baker from Paddington Green police station in London.

They lied to her, saying her bank account had been compromised, and created an elaborate crime drama-style web of lies to convince their victims to withdraw cash and put it in a taxi for delivery to them at a drop-off point.

The gang conned people across Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Thames Valley and Hertfordshire between September 2013 and March 2014 and were sent down when they appeared at Guildford Crown Court last month.

Our smug-looking scammer on The Argus front page today – pulling a cocky pose as he gets snapped for his mug shot – is 20-year-old Michael Papa, of Woodbridge Street, London, who will be enjoying 40 months in prison for his part in the elaborate con.

Worzel Gummidge lookalike Thomas Curliss, 63, of Pentonville Road, London, pleaded not guilty to all charges but was found guilty at a trial and will be banged up for five years.

The woman of the bunch is Daisy-Mae McFadyen, of Outram Place, London, and she was jailed for 30 months after pleading guilty.

Bringing up the rear is teenager Ciaran Daniels, 18, of Pentonville Road, London, who has been sent down for 28 months for his role in the operation.

Detective Sergeant Ollie Cummings, of Surrey Police, who led the investigation, said: “The sentencing of this gang of cowardly offenders sends out a clear message that crimes of this nature will not be tolerated in Sussex and we will do everything possible to bring those responsible before the courts.

“This was a prolific and highly organised criminal gang, who shamelessly targeted vulnerable elderly residents across the South East and, on a number of occasions, stole huge sums of money by exploiting the trust of people who thought they were assisting a police investigation.”

Victim was drawn into the con and made to feel part of a crime drama 

WHEN Pamela Stokes answered the phone to a man claiming to be PC Ian Baker from the Metropolitan Police, her first thought was something terrible had happened to her daughter.

The 62-year-old listened to the imposter PC who told her she had been the victim of bank fraud and he needed access to her account for a major police operation to catch the conmen.

The Brighton resident, from Hartington Road, said she was “totally drawn into it” and felt like she was suddenly playing a part in a TV crime drama.

Ms Stokes said: “My daughter lives in London so my first thought was something terrible had happened to her. I was so relieved the call was not about her, I stopped thinking straight and genuinely believed there was a problem with my bank account which was part of a major police investigation.

“They told me to ring the number on the back of my bank card and speak to my bank’s fraud department and then call them back. The fact that I got through so easily to the bank should have been a red flag.”

When Pamela rang the number she was put through to bank staff just as fake as the police officer on the other line.

Stuck between these two rip-off merchants she was convinced to go into town and withdraw £5,500, an inheritance from her mother who had recently died, and give the cash to a taxi driver who was supposedly acting as the courier.

The fraudsters then called her back and asked her to withdraw more money, this time in euros, and once again she complied – handing the sum over to another taxi driver.

Pamela told The Argus: “I remember thinking ‘what on earth was I doing handing over all this money?’ “I just thought – oh my god, I just put all that money in the taxi.

“They had been telling me there were undercover plain clothes men keeping me safe and I looked around it was obvious there was no one.

“The feeling – I just cannot express. I was asking myself how this happened, what did I just do?

“I had been totally manipulated, it was almost like brainwashing. You suddenly come out of it and my heart just sunk – I needed that money desperately. The very first thing I did was ring the taxi company and told them what happened and they told me to ring the police.

“I thought what I would do is ring 101 and I got through to the Metropolitan Police. Literally as I am talking to the operator she confirmed this was a con and they contacted Brighton Police.

“It was so embarrassing – it was just before Mother’s Day and I thought I had to face my family and my godson who was a special constable. I was just feeling incredibly stupid.”

Despite her embarrassment, thanks to her quick-thinking detectives were able to intercept the cab on its way to London to the drop-off point.

She said: “Within minutes, real police officers came to my home while I was still receiving calls from the fraudsters. By tracing the phone call and taxi driver, the police were able to arrest those responsible.

“I was still giving my statement when the criminals thought they were collecting their spoils from a taxi driver. But the taxi driver had been replaced by a plain clothes police officer.”

Detectives then managed to unravel the £100,000-plus racket which had been conning people across the South of England.

Thomas Curliss, 63, of Pentonville Road, London, Ciaran Daniels, 18, of Pentonville Road, London, Daisy-Mae McFadyen, 21, of Outram Place, London, and Michael Papa, 20, of Woodbridge Street, London, were sentenced at a hearing at Guildford Crown Court earlier this month.

All four were charged with a total of 81 conspiracy to commit fraud offences which were carried out across Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Thames Valley and Hertfordshire between September 2013 and March 2014.

Ms Stokes attended one of the hearings and it was there she first saw the face of Curliss – one of the fraudsters who had tried to steal her inheritance.

She said: “I was very surprised when I saw him, a very sickly specimen. I had been so scared of him – they had intercepted my phone line, they knew I was the one behind getting them caught.

“He just looked frail. When he came out in court there was no soul behind his eyes.”

She added: “I asked myself how I could have been so stupid? But these confidence tricksters are cunning. They hook you into a drama where you believe you are helping the police catch criminals. “After the trial, I spoke to another victim who, like me, was at a vulnerable time in her life. It helped to know that other people have fallen for it, intelligent, smart people.

“We both still feel stupid and humiliated and I want to do anything to prevent it happening to others.”