Two telephone fraudsters from Bulgaria's Dupnitsa have been arrested after terrorizing the local elderly population.

The spokesman for Blagoevgrad regional police, Gergana Moralieva, announced the arrests of 22-year-old Purvan Rangelov and 28-year-old Dimitar Dinev for fraud and psychological abuse.

The two men were busted when they arrived on the outskirts of Celishte village to collect BGN 12 000 from an old lady who they believed they had managed to trick, Darik Radio reported.

The scheme involved the fraudsters phoning elderly people from the region and pretending to be lawyers, who needed money to release the elderly person's child or relative from arrest, who they said, fictitiously, had knocked down a young child in the road.

Moralieva stated that "three days ago Rangelov and Dinev managed to steel BGN 4 000 from an 85-year-old lady. In total over 30 people gave money to the men."

Similar schemes have sprung up across the country over the past year and the police have warned Bulgaria's elderly population be aware of the threat