'My £17,000 was gone in an instant,' says grandpa, 80, after sick phone call
A GRANDPA was conned out of £17,000 by sick phone scammers after they posed as his bank.
John Fillingham, 80, was packing to move from Essex to North Yorkshire to be closer to his children in April 2019 when he received a phone call.
The caller claimed they were from John's bank and said someone was trying to access his account.
They then told the former engineering designer to transfer his money to a secure account.
John, who has lived alone since his wife died in 2009, was initially skeptical.
However, after a series of security questions, the scammers managed to convince him to transfer the money.
“It was a Friday and I was in the middle of making arrangements for my move when the phone rang,” John said The mirror.
I didn't have time to think, so I did it.
John Fillingham
“They said they were my bank and someone was using my card and I had to move my money to keep it safe.”
John hesitated after the call ended and tried to redial the number.
He continued, “I didn't have time to think, so I did it. When I hung up and tried to call back, I became suspicious.
“I was told I'm not covered. It's my fault because I used my own computer to transfer the money.”
When John visited his local branch the next day, he was told there was nothing they could do.
Fortunately for John, three years after he was initially scammed, his bank recovered the full £17,000, along with interest.
It comes after a Co-op customer said he feels demoralized after his £100,000 savings disappeared from his account.
Pensioner Paul Henderson, from Glen Parva, Leicestershire, believes he has been “conned” out of his money.
On December 13, he received three calls claiming to be from the bank's fraud department.
Meanwhile, another scam victim burned down her old office to make way for a new one, but it was never delivered.
Lucy Fletcher, 46, paid £3,600 for a purpose-built shipping container office.
How to spot a scam and what to do if you are a victim
According to the Co-op, phone scams are becoming increasingly common.
If you disclose sensitive information about your account, it could be taken over by criminals.
A fraudster can call you and pretend to be an employee of, for example, the bank's fraud department or customer service.
They may say that a fraudulent charge was made from the account and they need to verify it before the problem can be resolved.
The scammer will then ask for personal, financial, or bank account security information to gain online access to the account and possibly clear the entire account balance.
To do all this, they need the one-time security access codes that the bank sends to customers, so they will manipulate and force the customer to reveal these codes.
How to stay safe
Never share one-time access codes, your passwords, or other security codes with anyone, including someone claiming to work for your bank.
Never agree to authorize a transaction that you have not physically completed in online banking.
Do not agree to download any software or app onto your device that would allow someone to access it remotely
Don't rely on the caller display on your phone to authenticate a caller. Fraudsters can easily manipulate this.
Simone Fox, director of specialist services at The Co-operative Bank said: “We do everything we can to keep our customers safe, but we are seeing criminals becoming increasingly sophisticated in their approach to scams, even going so far as to as members of the staff.
“We ask our customers to remain vigilant and never trust anyone who cold calls and asks for access codes to be released.
“I cannot emphasize enough that no bank employee will ever ask you to divulge any codes sent to you for verification.”
If you think you have been the victim of a scam, you should report it as soon as possible.
There is no guarantee that you will get your money back, but banks will often compensate you if you can prove that you did not know the money would disappear from your account.
You can forward scam emails to report@phishing.gov.uk and you should also contact your bank and report them to Action Fraud, who will give you a crime reference number.
Check whether your bank has signed the voluntary APP code, which indicates that it has promised to refund customers who have been tricked into sending money to scammers.
If your bank is on file and refuses to refund you, you can file a complaint and ask why it isn't adhering to the code.
You may be able to report the matter to the Financial Ombudsman, who can order your bank to reimburse you.