Thieves made off with 48,000 pounds of award-winning cheddar from artisan cheese seller

Thieves with a nose for fine cheese have pulled off a massive cheddar ripoff in London.

Neal's Yard Dairy said a con artist posing as a wholesale distributor for a major French retailer had made off with 48,488 pounds of award-winning cheddar worth $390,000 before the company realized it had been scammed and reported the theft on Monday.

"The high monetary value of these cheeses likely made them a particular target for the thieves," Neal's Yard Dairy, a distributor, wholesaler, and retailer of British artisanal cheese, said in a statement.