At the moment she was attacked, Eve said her life changed: "When he robbed me, he took a lot more than my gold chains off me. He took the person that I was."

The 78-year-old grandmother was getting in her car one evening in April when a masked man grabbed her arm, stole her bracelets and ran off.

"That shock, it lives with me, that image," she admitted, adding the robbery had a massive effect on her.

"It's got worse as the days have gone by. I have to make sure the windows are shut in case anyone gets in while I'm in the room, and I'm frightened to answer the door to anyone.

"I won't empty the bins at night. It's just overtaken my life; if I see a kid on a bike, my legs go to jelly."

Eve is one of several women who spoke to the BBC as West Midlands Police investigate more than 40 robberies in the last year which they have linked.

A £10,000 reward is being offered by Crimestoppers to help identify the perpetrator or perpetrators, as different descriptions have come from the victims.

Eve, from Solihull, saw the man who robbed her as she was leaving a church on foot; he was riding a bike and she moved aside to let him pass.

When she got to her car, someone then pulled the door out of her hand.

"I turned around and then there was this face... but it wasn't a face, it was a black laughing face. All I could see was eyes," she said.

The man sounded like he was in his mid-20s to her and he wore all-black clothing, including gloves and a balaclava.

"He's got my chains that I always wear and he's shaking my arm vigorously up and down... I started screaming for all I'm worth."

The jewellery stolen was sentimental to Eve as the items had been bought by her late husband, who died on Boxing Day 2025.

Sultana, not her real name, was another victim. She and her sister were about to catch a bus into Birmingham in April.

It was midday and they were waiting inside the bus shelter when a man on a bike, wearing all black along with a balaclava and gloves, asked if they had seen a black dog.

He rode off when they said no, but returned a short while later.

"He says: 'Give me everything you have, give me your gold that you are wearing right now both of you, or I'll hurt you'," Sultana said.

"I was so scared that I froze, I couldn't move actually and I told her in my native language: 'Let's just give him whatever he wants'."

"He said, 'Stop talking, just give me everything'. Then I took mine off and I just gave it to him."

The man fled after her sister's bus turned up and they called the police.

"As soon as he took off and we were getting on the bus, I started crying," she said.

"For a few days after, I couldn't really go near the bus stop or use the bus. The next day I didn't even go out of the house.

"I don't stand inside the shed anymore on the bus stop."

Three people have been arrested so far in the investigation with one bailed and two released.

Det Insp Stuart Lewis said they were keeping an open mind as to how many people were involved, given the variation in the descriptions of the robber.

"Some say he is in his 20s, some in his 30s, predominantly stocky build on both occasions," Lewis said.

"He's also been described as a white male or potentially a light-skinned black male."

Sometimes the perpetrator in one of the robberies used distraction techniques, like asking if victims have seen kids playing football.

"Other times he'll come up behind and strike a female to the back of the head... knock them to the floor," Lewis said, adding no-one had been seriously injured so far.

Women were predominantly targeted, he added, and they were being singled out for their gold jewellery, bracelets and necklaces.

Whoever was behind the robberies was working in the Chelmsley Wood and Smith's Wood area of Solihull and were believed to be from the area.

Extra patrols were taking place in the community, Lewis said, and inquiries have taken place at local pawn shops and jewellery brokers but nothing was recovered.

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