A man has been arrested as part of a crack down on telephone fraud and money transfer scams by Devon and Cornwall Police.
Local officers joined forces with colleagues from the Metropolitan Police to make the arrest at an address in the Plumstead area of London.
The action was part of Operation Fardel, the Devon and Cornwall Police initiative to target fraudsters who mainly prey on the elderly and vulnerable in the community.
Inspector John Shuttleworth, of Devon and Cornwall Police, confirmed that a man in his 20s being questioned by officers and was in custody in London.
He said: "We have today made an arrest in the Plumstead area of London as part of Operation Fardel, which is Devon and Cornwall Police's response to telephone, courier and money transfer fraud.
"This type of fraud is prevalent and we are working hard to get justice for our victims."
He said that criminals make contact by cold calling victims on the telephone and attempting to gain their trust by claiming to be an official from the bank or the police.
The criminal will then try to gain private financial information such as pin numbers to bank accounts, and in some cases collect cash directly from the victim for what they say is safe keeping.
Insp Shuttleworth said police action was ongoing, but local residents must also be extremely careful and not give personal or bank information over the phone to someone who rings claiming to be from an official organisation.
"It's vital that people don't give out personal details on the phone nor hand over any money or cards to couriers," he said.
"Your bank or the police would never ask for this.
"We have made a number of arrests under Op Fardel and currently have suspects on bail.
"The majority of these are out of force area therefore involves us working closely with national partner agencies and with police forces from across the country as part of our investigations."
He added: "Foreign students are regularly being targeted by criminals to sell their bank accounts or allow their bank accounts to be used for money laundering."
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