A routine check by traffic police led to the uncovering of a ring in Athens involving seven people who worked together to scam pensioners out of some 27,500 euros, police said on Saturday.

Officers stopped a 35-year-old man driving a rental car on Thursday and found that he did not have a driving license. After further investigation they discovered that the unnamed man was swindling pensioners with the help of five other men and one woman.

Police said that on at least 14 occasions over the last 12 months members of the gang went to pensioners’ houses and told them that their children owed money. They would then force their victims to go with them to a bank and withdraw the amount their children supposedly owed. Police are searching for the other six suspected members of the ring.