Eight people have been charged by detectives investigating 144 reports of courier fraud.

Between June 3, 2013 and February 15, 2014 police in Kent, London and Hampshire were told of suspicious telephone calls from people attempting to obtain banking details and the bank card itself.

After an investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, eight people have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and bailed to appear at Dartford Magistrates’ Court on July 21.

Those charged are:

Tahera Chowdhury, 19, of Vale Road, Dartford; Billy Bruce, 21, of Watling Street, Dartford; Mohid Chowdhury, 20, of Chestnut Road, Dartford; James Darren McGill, 23, of Manor Road, Gravesend; Zinaul Hoque, 20, of Cornwallis Square, Holloway, London; a 17-year-old boy from Holloway, London; Mohammed Naim Chowdhury, 19, of Munster Square, Camden Town, London; and Hasan Butt, 19, of Elmcroft Street, Hackney, London.