Scammers take more than £50,000 from 83-year-old man

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Something the mods dream up Joined: 22 Apr 2014 Posts: 905

Phone banking scam nets thousands

An 83-year-old man was scammed out of more than £50,000 by telephone fraudsters.

The elderly Bridge of Allan resident was tricked into transferring the money from his account after receiving a phone call supposedly from his bank.

The caller, who had a Scottish accent, convinced the man to transfer his savings into other accounts to protect them.

Insp Jim Young said such frauds had a "devastating effect" on victims.

The victim received a phone call claiming to be from his bank's security team on Thursday evening.

He was advised that someone had tried to access his account, and that he should call the number on the back of his bank card to transfer his savings to safety.
'Devastating effect'

Police believe the scammer stayed on the line after the man had hung up the initial call, meaning the victim spoke to the same person again when trying to make the second call.

He then followed instructions to transfer a five-figure sum of money into other accounts, before the scammer told him to switch off his mains power supply for a short time.

Insp Young said this move was to give the fraudster time to move the money out of the other accounts.

He said: "These types of frauds have a devastating effect on the victim, as it is their life savings that are targeted.

"These fraudsters have no moral principles and we suspect they target the elderly as they are trusting.

"I strongly advise the public to be aware of this type of fraud, and if you get a phone call from someone purporting to be from your bank then ask for their details and don't provide them with any of their details, even if they appear genuine."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-29895241

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 2:35 pm

Poor guy. This is awful!

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:24 am

I read another article about this type of scam. The phone companies for landlines are switching from two minutes to close the call to 2 seconds. Also, it is recommended to wait over 2 minutes to call the number on the back of your card or call from a different phone. These scams, I believe, only work on landlines and target the elderly.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Aug 2014 Posts: 2

username1939 wrote:

Phone banking scam nets thousands

An 83-year-old man was scammed out of more than £50,000 by telephone fraudsters.

The elderly Bridge of Allan resident was tricked into transferring the money from his account after receiving a phone call supposedly from his bank.

The caller, who had a Scottish accent, convinced the man to transfer his savings into other accounts to protect them.

Insp Jim Young said such frauds had a "devastating effect" on victims.

The victim received a phone call claiming to be from his bank's security team on Thursday evening.

He was advised that someone had tried to access his account, and that he should call the number on the back of his bank card to transfer his savings to safety.
'Devastating effect'

Police believe the scammer stayed on the line after the man had hung up the initial call, meaning the victim spoke to the same person again when trying to make the second call.

He then followed instructions to transfer a five-figure sum of money into other accounts, before the scammer told him to switch off his mains power supply for a short time.

Insp Young said this move was to give the fraudster time to move the money out of the other accounts.

He said: "These types of frauds have a devastating effect on the victim, as it is their life savings that are targeted.

"These fraudsters have no moral principles and we suspect they target the elderly as they are trusting.

"I strongly advise the public to be aware of this type of fraud, and if you get a phone call from someone purporting to be from your bank then ask for their details and don't provide them with any of their details, even if they appear genuine."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-29895241

I feel terrible for the victim. It's sad how the scammer took advantage of the victim's trust and played with his emotion. This should stop.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 12 Aug 2014 Posts: 2

I did a little research and found similar complaints lodged at Callercenter.com. There were the scammer phone numbers. The authorities might want to look into that and investigate on the people behind the calls.

05/29/15

Poor, poor old gent ... Mad

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