The team's most recent victim was an 87-year-old woman, The Scotsman reported. They entered her house in Bathgate and the man kept the woman talking while the boy -- who appeared to be about 12 -- went through drawers until he found her purse and extracted 265 pounds ($530) she had planned to spend on Christmas presents.

"They are particularly cold and calculating, and leave their victims in a very distressed state," a police spokesman said.

The spokesman urged the elderly to keep their money in the bank, to keep doors locked and not to admit strangers. He compared the man to Fagin, the Dickens character who organized a gang of young pickpockets.

"What makes these incidents more disturbing is that a young boy is involved with an adult, most probably his father," he said. "It is like something from Oliver Twist."