A pensioner paid out £60,000 to “organised and cunning” conmen who repeatedly targeted her with the same scam.

Fraudsters posing as Croydon Council trading standards officers preyed on the 68-year-old by charging her for building work they claimed she needed to carry out on her Thornton Heath home.

The con artists then pretended to be builders, pocketing £40,000 of the pensioner’s money over a lengthy period of time until the council’s genuine trading standards team intervened in 2014.

The victim’s money was never recovered, three months later she was targeted by someone claiming again claiming to be a trading standards officer, who told her the fraudsters had been caught and that she should carry on with the required building work.

They advised her a qualified builder would call at her home to collect payment for the work and, believing the call was genuine, the woman handed over a further £20,000.

Last week the woman was targeted again but, remembering advice from trading standards officers, asked to see identification and told the man she would call the council for confirmation.

The man left and this time no money changed hands.

Councillor Hamida Ali, cabinet member for communities, safety and justice said: “This is a case that vividly illustrates how organised and cunning today’s con artists are.

“It’s known that information regarding victims of previous scams is shared between different scamming gangs, allowing repeat visits – just like this one – from people that the victim hasn’t previously seen, and so may not have their suspicions aroused.

“In this case, fortunately, her previous experience, allied to the good work of our trading standards officers, raised her defences and she did exactly the right thing in asking to see identification.

“Our advice in these situations is to never do business with cold callers, whether they’re on the phone, at your front door or have contacted you by post.

“Always ask for identification, check it and then ask them to come back when somebody else is with you; and never accept their word if they claim work needs to be carried out urgently – get at least three quotes from reputable companies.”