Mother's warning after being left with just £1.61 after phone scammers emptied her account of £10,500

Daily Mail​

a day ago

A mother has been left with just £1.61 after answering a phone call from an unknown caller.
Vicki Jones, 44, from West Derby, lost £10,500 of her own money to scammers last week who 'didn't even ask for bank details'.
Vicki told the Liverpool Echo how the scammers pretended to be from Action Fraud - the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime that people are supposed to report scams to.
But after spending five hours on the phone to the scammers, who knew details including her name, address and the bank she already had two accounts with, Vicki had transferred thousands of pounds of her own money over to a fake 'holding account'.
Vicki said: 'They [the scammers] rang me to say that there had been unusual activity on my account and they had stopped a few payments.
'They said to me that they were going to run through security with me.
'They didn't ask anything out of the ordinary, they knew most of the information. I didn't have to give any of my bank details or anything like that.'
Vicki said the scammers knew her name, address and were also aware she had two accounts with this bank and a third account with another bank.
She added: 'They then said that they wanted to transfer me through to the tier three digital security team because as well as these payments that they'd put a stop on, they also said the supposed imaginary scammers had also managed to successfully set up direct debits in my name.'
As they were calling from a withheld number, Vicki asked if she could ring them back with the number on the back of one of her bank cards.
The scammers said she was welcome to do so but gave her a number with two different last digits under the pretence that it was an 'extra secure' line.
Vicki said: 'Obviously hindsight is an amazing thing but they'd already put me in a panic.
'They knew I had all these different bank accounts and one of the bank accounts held a substantial amount of money that belongs to my daughter for when she goes to college or university or whatever.
'I had another savings account that had my emergency house fund holiday money because me and my daughter were going on holiday in a couple of weeks.'
After ringing the number Vicki spoke to the same man, who told her that he needed to transfer her to a colleague before hanging up.
She was then called again on a withheld number by a man who informed her that he was from the 'tier three digital fraud team'.
It was at this point that the scammers convinced Vicki that one of her bank accounts had been compromised and she needed to move her money into a new 'holding account'.
Vicki claims she was given a fake crime reference number and email from Action Fraud.
The scammer then gave her instructions to use her card reader and take a selfie on her bank account to verify her identity.
Vicki said: 'He then told me, 'we can now proceed to close down your account but we're going to have to open you a new account in order to do it because the scammers who have mirrored your banking app, they'll have access and can see what's going on, so we need to try and go undetected.'
'He said, 'when we open your new account, if there's any payments made outside of Merseyside then we'll get in touch, we won't let the payment go through until we've spoken to you.'
Action Fraud's Advice
Action Fraud will not call victims unless they have made a specific request and will never ask for victims' bank details.
If a person making a report is unsure whether a call is genuine, call the Action Fraud team directly on 0300 123 2040.
If you've been a victim of fraud, you should report it via the online tool at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, contact Police Scotland on 101.
'I asked, how's that going to work? He said, 'we can discuss all this, don't worry about it.' All I was concerned about is my daughter's savings and making sure that they didn't end up disappearing.
'So I agreed. They told me to not do it all at once because it would look ironic, it would look too suspicious to the scammers.'
It was 11.30pm at this point and Vicki had been on the phone for over five hours. The man on the other end of the line said they would be in touch the next day to keep her up-to-date.
'In total on Thursday night, I'd moved in the region of about £10,500 into the supposed holding account,' Vicki said.
It was not until Vicki had a chat about it with a friend the next morning that she realised she had been conned.
'Friday morning came about and I spoke to a friend of mine.
'She sent me a video that she'd seen on TikTok. The video was of this girl saying, 'scammers are getting clever, I was scammed by someone who was pretending that I was being scammed.'
'My stomach just dropped.'
After contacting her bank who had supposedly called her, Vicki was told there had been no investigation into her accounts and there was no tier three digital fraud security team.
Vicki said: 'I just broke down and was like, what have I done? I know I'm opening myself to criticism because people will be like, how could you be so stupid?
'But I am not usually a naive person. Someone might sit there and go, 'oh my god, there were so many alarm bells. There were so many opportunities that she had to just spin this off', but I genuinely believed that I was at risk.
'So as embarrassing as it is, I just don't want anybody else to go through this absolute nightmare.'
Vicki added: 'I don't know if I'll get my money back. I don't know how long it'll take if I do get my money back.
'Obviously, I needed my holiday money, I needed my emergency house fund, but my daughter's money that we've worked so hard for is what I'm most upset about.
'I am lucky that I've got the support of my family to buy me shopping and give me money for petrol. I was literally left with £1.61 in my bank account.'
Vicki warns that the scammers faked communications from Action Fraud - the organisation that people are asked to report scams to.
Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, takes reports from members of the public and businesses on behalf of the police.
The reports made to Action Fraud are then sent to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) which is run by the City of London Police, and the organisation then decides whether a case will be passed on to a police force.
People can fall victim to scams when they offer an incentive, such as a discount on bills or an opportunity to make money which leads them to hand over personal information such as credit card details.
But Vicki said that in her case the scammers, who said they were from a bank that she had two accounts with, claimed she needed to move money to a new holding account as her finances had been compromised.
Vicki's case is now being investigated by Action Fraud.
In the first week of June, Merseyside Police announced its support for phishing awareness week, an initiative led by Action Fraud.
Detective Sergeant Gavin said: 'Don't get caught out. Stop, Think Fraud, and make sure you report suspicious-looking emails or messages if you receive them.
'It is important to report these attempts because you're not only protecting yourself but helping us protect others in the community.'