Fraud.A warning.Please read.

i recommend listening to You & Yours, BBC Radio 4,
after the news at 12 noon, mon to fri.
and on saturday it's money box, same time.
this has alerted me to many scams and other interesting topics.

those who look down on others from a lofty smug height, should remember,
pride goeth before a fall.

Some really unkind comments today.

OP I’m so sorry this happened to you

Some harsh people on here, it can happen to anyone I don’t see why a few keep rubbing it in I m sure busybee feels bad enough without anyone pushing it in her face
It’s not helpful at all
Have a bit of empathy let’s hope you never make a mistake or misjudgement a shame we re not all perfect

Sympathies to the OP. It's a horrible sensation when it happens to you.

Last week I had two texts one at 6.50 am and another at 7.10. The bank was named at the top. It stated that my card had been used naming a company I had never heard of and asking whether I had authorised the payment. Answer Y for yes and N for no.

I decided wait for 9.00 and call the bank direct. (I learned later that their security is available 24/7.) Around 8,00 my landline rang. I didn't answer and the same message was left on the answering machine. Another about 10 minutes later.

It actually WAS the bank calling and when I rang I found them very professional and helpful. Their system had picked up two incidents of unusual activity on my account. They had stopped the second one in the early hours of that morning. The first one just a few days earlier had gone through, however they assured me they would investigate and that if there could be no justifiable explanation found why the said company had taken money from me I would get the first amount back.

They found that a company I had bought some goods from had passed on my bank details to a third party. They said it happens a lot and told me the names of other companies to watch out for. I got my money back.

I read somewhere that burglaries are down as the rogues are making enough from scams.

How awful ! I hope you get your money back ......I was actually nearly outside my bank one day when I had a call from 'the Bank;s Security Centre telling me there had been a scam on my card and to confirm my security details ...........SO I went into the bank immediately and showed them them the message ....they said it was nothing to do with them and to delete it and not respond (I would not have done anyway !)...and when I tried to pay by Bank transfer for my new kitchen, and later for the bathroom .....I actually telephoned the bank to do so (it was during lockdown when they were not open).....it took a very long time as there were so many questions ...first my own bank contacted the recipients quoted bank and the account details .....then I had to confirm around three times the details the installation company had given me ..........it all too about an hour before they would make the transfer,....and then I was warned that as I had agreed to all this it would be my fault if it was a scam ....I confirmed it was ok as the installation engineer was present throught these conversations (but not in the same room to hear my details)....BUT at least I was happy all the details, company registered name and address, company bank contacted ,,,,,,,,,,,,as I did at least feel it was ok (it was) but last year my card was scammed twice in CYPRUS (I have never been there)....my Bank said there are banks of scammers just sitting at computer inputting thousands of random numbers until the hit on one that will let them use it ........isn't it high time all these computer 'security experts' were able to develop a program that would stop this ! I pay enough to security firms for security on my computer !!!

I've been sent a couple of texts recently saying 'I know what you did and I have compromising pictures of you which will be sent to all your phone contacts if you don't transfer a certain number of bitcoin to the following account'. If I lead a more interesting life I might have been worried!

Busybeejay,
This is a post of support not an attack on you. I am so sad to read what has happened to you and can well understand you feel sick. When you hear there has been fraudulent activity on your account you went into panic mode. Don’t feel silly! Lots of posters implying you should have known better- that does not help you one jot. Most people are aware of these scams but a minority are’nt, sadly you are one if those people. I feel for you and understand how distraught you will be. Good luck when you speak to your bank , if you visit the bank I hope you are able to take a trusted friend with you. Take some massive 7deep breaths , try and quell your panic and I genuinely wish you well. Scammers are very clever indeed and many wise people have been taken in , so endeavour to stop feeling foolish, stand tall and go for it !??

busybeejay don't feel old and silly - anyone can fall for a scam if it happens at the wrong moment, and if there is person out there who has never been tricked in any way, whether a large or small incident, at any point in life, then I would like to meet that extremely superior individual.
You were brave enough to share what happened to you, and it is awful that you have lost so much. I feel for you, and hope that there is some way that you can get your money back. Take heart. x

Sadly, this is a well-known fraud. It is worth us all regularly reminding ourselves of the latest frauds that are out there. There are lots of information sources on the internet including this one:

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/scams/check-if-something-might-be-a-scam/

It suggests people might sign up for an e-mail update from Trading Standards on latest frauds. I get one from my local council Trading Standards and while it often tells me what I already know, it is a regular reminder to stay alert.

I myself almost fell for an insurance renewal fraud. A caller happened to ring when a policy I thought I had was due to renew. It was quite convincing and I was lulled initially. I have also heard of a recent fraud where an unknown person takes out a genuine car insurance policy using your details. The fraudster then alters the details and sells it to an unsuspecting driver as a cut price policy, pocketing the premium. All is well unless the driver makes a claim and learns that the policy in his name doesn't exist.

The latter happened to me, and I received a number of letters from different insurance companies addressed to various Asian names. Obviously the address was public knowledge and it was in an area of low crime and therefore low premiums. On each occasion I phoned the insurance company to alert them and I was amazed that only one showed any interest. Didn’t lead to me losing anything but I was astonished that it was obviously such a common happening.

I give another vote for BT and call guardian it screens all calls and we never get any unwanted calls at all .

ditto.
recommend call guardian for landline.

???
BT call guardian gets a big thumbs up from us. No unwanted calls at all.

We have had BT Call Protect for our landline for several years. It enables you to block the last number which called you and we have very few scam calls now. It’s gone from several a week, sometimes several a day, to one a month at the most.

Ellcee

I've been sent a couple of texts recently saying 'I know what you did and I have compromising pictures of you which will be sent to all your phone contacts if you don't transfer a certain number of bitcoin to the following account'. If I lead a more interesting life I might have been worried!

I had this today - ‘I know what you did and I’m not going to remind you of it, just transfer 1500 bitcoin into my account’. There’s also a scam McAfee computer protection email doing the rounds - I’m bombarded with ovens of them every day and there doesn’t seem to be any way to stop it.

I rarely get any on my mobile, if it’s a number not in my contacts I let it ring, if it’s important, a message is left.
No landline (no handset).

Did anyone else see that TV prog. a year or so ago, where some tech-whizz chap foiled a would-be scammer - and then managed to track down where the scam had come from?

He traced it to a properly set up call centre, a big office in Lagos, Nigeria, where a lot of people were actually employed to do it. The chap who ran it was apparently loaded.

I used to think it was down to some dodgy bloke working on his own - far from it. It’s evidently big, organised business now. All the more reason for super-vigilance.

I enjoy watching videos posted on You Tube by this man. He enjoys leading scammers a merry dance.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tnqvdq6miU

This is a BBC clip about calling out scammers. Could it be this, you are thinking about Witzend?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ9LUS2F1cA

Good luck getting your money back busybeejay.

My neighbour was caught by the 'postage underpaid' text.

Luckily her daughter came quickly and rang her credit card company and cancelled the card. She couldn't believe her Mum had fallen for it, but my neighbour was waiting for a parcel, so perhaps the hackers had got into the Royal Mail site.

I check here often to see if you've posted busybee I hope your getting some answers. Do let us know how things are progressing.

What with all the data breaches that seem to happen these days, my virus protection/security provider (who I've been with for years) on my pc informed me that one of my email addresses had been flagged up on the 'dark web'. Scared the hell out of me but apparently if you buy stuff online, there's a pretty good chance your info is on the dark web. A lot of people don't seem to bothered but, just in case, I changed my broadband supplier. Trouble is, I still buy stuff online. Hopeful my security will keep watch for me. What can you do, buying online seems to be life a we know it.

Yes I agree effalump. No way back now.

The latest scam here in well off areas.
Phone call from bank to say fraud has been comitted. A few hours later, two detectives appear at your home. At least five people have fallen for it and lost large sums of money.

After having been more than 60 years with the same bank, I should hope by now that they're au-fait with my spending habits. Anything untoward and it'll be immediately blocked.