Taunton woman loses £8,000 after bogus police phone call

The conman phoned Sylvia – not her real name – falsely claiming they had a relative and carer of Sylvia in custody for possession of stolen jewellery and gold who was also involved in a fraud case at Sylvia’s bank.

He said ‘Lucy’ had suspiciously withdrawn £500 from her account, but then put it back in.

Sylvia was then asked to help the police investigation by withdrawing £4,000 from her bank.

To appease her fears she was being scammed, the fraudster posing as a detective told her to call the number on the back of her bank card to check it was legitimate.

Unfortunately, because Sylvia used the same phone, the fraudster did not hang up the previous call so when she tried to call the bank, she ended up speaking to the same fraudster she had just been on the phone to as he kept the line open.

The fake detective then convinced Sylvia to go to her local bank and withdraw the money while on the phone to him and lie to the cashier as to why she needed the money.

With the £4,000 back at her home address, Sylvia was again called by the fake detective. He asked her to read out the serial numbers of the bank notes and proceeded to tell her that these were counterfeit notes, which he said confirmed Lucy’s guilt and therefore the cash needed to be collected for evidence in court.

To further convince Sylvia everything was above board, he gave her a password that a courier would give when picking up the money.

Within 20 minutes the courier arrived and took the cash, plus a further sum from her pension account which the fake detective said would also be of use to their investigation, taking the total loss to about £8,000.

Sylvia was left with a falsified receipt so she could be ‘reimbursed’, but as it was a scam she was left thousands of pounds out of pocket.

Sylvia said: “I have had many scam calls before and picked up on it right away, but this one was so convincing that I think people need to be on their guard.

“When they say they are the police you believe them don’t you?

“When I look back on it now, I should have gone directly to the bank or police to check. If I’d been able to stop to think, I would have done that, but they don’t give you the time to do that. It’s scary how convincing they are.”

Sylvia was one of 60 victims of courier fraud in Avon and Somerset who reported total losses of £278,936 last year.

The force’s fraud protect officer Amy Horrobin said: “Sylvia has been left feeling rather shaken, frustrated with herself and not knowing who she can trust. She has received support from officers and advice from fraud protect officers, because often victims are vulnerable to being targeted again by fraudsters.”

Giving advice in what to do if you receive a phone call similar to the one Sylvia answered, Amy added: “The best thing to do is to remember Take Five, Tell Two – that is to take five minutes to consider if you might be being scammed and tell two other people who may be able to spot red flags you can’t in a pressurised situation.

“We can 100 per cent guarantee though that the police or your bank will never ask you to withdraw cash or buy jewellery as part of any enquiries. You will also never be asked to lie to your bank. No matter how insistent or convincing the fraudster is, if you are told to do that we can guarantee it is a scam and you should hang up immediately and report it to Action Fraud.”

If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud online or by calling 0300 123 2040.