A gang of fraudsters targeted rural County Durham addresses in order to intercept their post and steal identities.
The five men, some of whom are refugees from Zimbabwe, stole post and got hold of personal details so that they could then obtain "numerous" credit cards.
It's estimated around £165,000 worth of credit was obtained by the gang in total in 2018, some of which was used to buy expensive items during shopping trips to Newcastle and the Metrocentre.
