Scam victim burned down her office after buying £3,000 shed but it never showed up
A SCAM victim burned down her old office to make way for a new office, but it was never completed.
Lucy Fletcher, 46, paid £3,600 for a purpose-built shipping container office.
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The beautician saw the listing on Facebook Marketplace and exchanged messages and phone calls.
She also received official-looking invoices on business letterhead from the man.
However, the office was never completed and her bank said they would only refund half the amount.
Adding fuel to the fire, Lucy also burned down her old office to make room for the new purchase.
She said: “I feel very vulnerable now – this man now has my address, he has had a lot of my money and I have lost work so I have lost business too.
'It was just how professional the scammers were – I had no reason to doubt that.
“The emotional stress was unbelievable. It was an absolute mess.
I literally burned down my existing salon to make room for the container.
Lucy Fletcher
“If I've been scammed – and I think I'm quite into it – and other people haven't been scammed yet, then basically they need to be more aware of it.”
Before Lucy handed over the money, Santander called her to make sure she was happy to proceed.
Lucy confirmed that this was the case, but she believes the bank should have helped her more in checking the legitimacy of the company.
A Santander spokesperson said: “Our fraud prevention measures identified this transaction as potentially fraudulent and have blocked the first payment.
“However, following a telephone conversation with Ms Fletcher, payment was completed.
“We have thoroughly investigated this matter and, in accordance with the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) Code, given the specific circumstances, have offered to reimburse Ms Fletcher for half of the money lost.”
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.
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.