A gang of fake Interpol agents in India said to be responsible for conning millions of pounds from victims in a worldwide phone scam has been broken up by police.

Justice officials in Austria became suspicious when hundreds of people began calling for help after being targeted by the gang.

Local media reports say that EUR 2.7 million (GBP 2.3 million) was stolen from at least 387 victims in Austria alone, with over 1,100 police reports filed over the fake Interpol agents.

The conmen – based at a call centre in New Delhi – pretended to be Interpol agents and told their targets that they are the subject of criminal proceedings or that their identity has been stolen, but need payment to resolve the legal problem.

Austrian media report that millions more around the world may have fallen foul of the fake Interpol officers too.

Investigators eventually managed to trace the crooks to a call centre in New Delhi with the Indian authorities then swooping in and making numerous arrests.

Since then, the number of complaints in Austria has reportedly dropped to zero.

The bust was reportedly the result of a group effort between the Austrian Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt), the real Interpol and the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation.