RESIDENTS have been urged to keep an eye on their neighbours after a conman posed as a police officer to steal £5,000 from a Southbourne pensioner.

Yasin Amin, pictured, of Colindale in London, was arrested as the ‘courier’ after officers baited him with fake cash.

The victim, a man in his 80s from the Tuckton area, was called by a man who said he was a police officer with the fraud squad in London on Monday, August 15 2016.

The caller told the victim his bank account had been fraudulently accessed and £480 stolen.

The fraudster then convinced the victim to withdraw money from his bank to assist with an investigation.

The victim then went to his bank and withdrew £5,000. On returning home, he spoke to the same man on the phone.

The fraudster asked the victim to read out the serial numbers from the bank notes and told the pensioner they were fraudulent and needed to be collected by a courier.

Amin - who was not the caller - visited the victim’s address at 3.40pm that day to collect the money. At 11.20pm, the elderly man realised something was wrong and called the police.

While officers were at this home, the victim received another call from the fraudster.

The caller told the victim he needed to withdraw a further £5,000 and said the courier would attend the address again to collect the money.

However, officers gave the victim an envelope containing folded pieces of paper to hand to the courier.

When Amin, 22, arrived at the house, he was given the envelope.

As the defendant walked away, he was arrested.

On Friday, he appeared before a judge at Bournemouth Crown Court, where he was sentenced to eight months in prison suspended for two years after admitting theft.

He was also ordered to pay £1,600 in compensation.

Detective Constable Joanne Poultney, of Bournemouth CID, said: “Fraudsters prey on the elderly and vulnerable, often by using callous methods, including pretending to be police officers or banking advisors, to convince victims that they are legitimate.”