Nationwide issue warning after growing scam sees pensioner lose £25k – 'Hang up the phone'
A woman from Oakham, 75, sadly lost £25,000 after being targeted in impersonation fraud. Impersonation fraud is when someone pretends to be the police, a bank, a friend or business, to convince people to send them money.
The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, was contact out of the blue by who she thought was the police.
The supposed police officer claimed to be investigating counterfeit currency.
The woman was told to withdraw the cash from her bank over a few days, with a courier sent to collect the money on two separate occasions.
Fraudsters are contacting victims by telephone claiming to be a police officer or bank official.
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Britons are urged to remain vigilant as the callers usually sound plausible and may confirm the victim’s name and address, basic information which could be obtained easily.
In some instances, after trust has been gained, the fraudster will claim money has been withdrawn from the victim’s account by staff within the bank.
They could even persuade the victim to go their local branch and take out a large sum of money from their account, and the scammers then send someone to collect the money from the victim’s home address.
On their website, Nationwide have urged Britons to say no.
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The building society states: “If you get a call from someone claiming to be the police, it can be hard to say no and refuse their requests.
“But some criminals are impersonating the police and using people’s trust to steal their money.
“Neither the police nor any other legitimate organisation would ever ask you for your card or PIN or to take out money or buy items on their behalf.
“If you’re asked to do something with your own money, especially out of the blue, or if it feels at all odd – hang up the phone.
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“Call the number on the back of your bank card to check it with us or dial 101 to go directly to the police.”
Nationwide explained that impersonation fraud usually occurs when scammers call, text or email someone, out of the blue, and claim to be police officers.
The criminals lie that they’re involved in an undercover investigation and they need someone’s help.
They may claim that one’s local bank branch is giving out fake or counterfeit banknotes.
Victims can help them put a stop to this by withdrawing some cash at the branch and handing it over to an ‘undercover officer’ for fingerprint analysis.
They arrange for an ‘undercover officer’ or courier to pick up the cash, and the person is told they will be reimbursed after the investigation.
However people hand over the money, but they never hear from them again, which is what happened in this case.
If someone needs to contact their bank to check, they should wait five minutes as fraudsters can stay on the line even after they have hung up, or use a different line altogether.
Further guidance about this type of scam can be found on the Action Fraud website.
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