Phone Scam Woman Conned Out Of £45,000

Published on: 5 Apr, 2014
Updated on: 5 Apr, 2014

A woman from Tongham has been conned out of £45,000 following a telephone scam.

Detectives from Surrey Police are warning residents to remain vigilant after several recent reports of scams involving fraudsters obtaining bank details using bogus telephone calls.

All three incidents happened on Tuesday, April 1, and each time someone with a Scottish accent has called the victim saying his name is ‘John Alexander’ and he is calling from Visa about fraudulent activity on their bank account.

The caller then advises the victim to telephone their bank immediately to clarify the situation. Meanwhile the fraudster stays on the line and obtains the victim’s bank details whilst they think they are phoning the bank.

The Tongham resident was persuaded to close her account to prevent further fraud occurring and to transfer £45,000 into a new account.

There have been two further reported incidents in Farnham and Wrecclesham but fortunately the residents became suspicious, put the phone down and contacted Surrey Police.

DC Tony Gravener from Guildford CID said: “These offences are particularly appalling as in some cases the suspects appear to be deliberately targeting elderly members of our communities and conning them out of their life savings.

“I would like stress that these requests are not genuine and that no bank would operate in this manner and would never request a customer to confirm their PIN or account details over the phone. Anyone who receives a suspicious call, either on the phone or in person, is urged to not give any details to the caller and report the matter to the police.

People are reminded to protect themselves using the following advice:

• Never give out any personal information about your bank account to anybody over the phone.

• Use a different phone line to call back if possible, i.e: a mobile phone if the call was received on your landline.

• If you have given out information which could compromise your bank account security in any way, call your bank up to cancel your cards as soon as possible.

If you have received any calls of this nature, or handed over any money or bank details, call 101 to report, or visit http://ap66/spotlight/editor/scripts/www.actionfraud.police.uk to report online or in confidence to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.