Fraud.A warning.Please read.

I’m not so sure she will get her money back. This is such a well publicised scam. Anyone still falling for it is negligent and in my opinion should not expect to have their money refunded by their bank. How many times do people have to be warned?

Don’t feel silly busybee it can happen to anyone if taken by surprise let us know how you get on with the bank etc
You should get it back I really hope ?

Some 6/7yrs ago I had a phone call on a Saturday saying it was RBS concerning a suspected fraud. I said I wasn't comfortable talking about it on the telephone and she asked me to call them back using the number on my card. This I did and it got me straight through to the Fraud Dept. Seemingly a small trial amount (£10) had gone through and then one for £95 and this somehow alerted the bank as their next move would have been for a large four figure amount! My card was cancelled as I was speaking to them and a new card came through early the next week. Back then that type of fraud was for ATM to have a hidden camera installed and the card was cloned. Things have obviously got more sophisticated (and easier) using phones.

PS: A friend had a text last week from her "daughter" saying she had lost her phone, etc. but using "Mom" instead of Mum my friend twigged straight away.

as others have said, this has been all over he news and on fraud shows on tv for 2-3 years now...You can also get leaflets from your local police warning you of several scams to be aware of.

I'm so very sorry busybeejay. These scammers are very clever and I'll second nanarose in thanking you for having the courage to warn us all on GN.

Like everyone, I hope you get your money back.

Ohh no, no, no.... i am soooo sorry to read this.

Ring your bank first thing tomorrow and see what can be done. I have heard of that precise scam before.

The other day some scum scammers tried to get 1 over me.

It was a Whatsapp message saying Hi mum i have had to get a new phone, this is my number i am using.

So, immediately i thought it was my son because he has been having trouble with his phone.

Then the scammer typed I hate asking but could you loan me some money to pay an invoice and i pay you back next week.

I do not know what it was ( probably me being a sceptical person.) But i had a niggling that this WASNT my son.

So i rang the number that the scammer was sending me the Whatsapp messages on.

Ring, ring ring ring...NO ANSWER.

then i gets another message Cant answer phone.

Then another message. Can I send you the amount i need?

I rang my son ( who lives abroad) and he confirmed it was not him, i rang my daughter just incase to see if it was her, NO not her either.

So it was some scammer TRYING their level best to get £££££££ ... well they got zilch.

I really am soooo sorry..... contact your bank tomorrow, they will be able to help you.

Thank you for the warning. It's an awful indictment of today's society that we have to be so suspicious of things.
I hope you will get your money back.

I am very,very wary of scams.Never give my number etc but I had not heard of this scam.
I feel very silly now and at 77 could do without this!

busybeejay So sorry to hear about your trouble and thank you for the warning. It seems ever easier to get caught by scammers. I hope you get your money back ???

These despicable criminals are very clever and if the circumstances are right then even the most cautious person can be caught out. I do hope you get your money back busybeejay.

I do hope that you get your money back - I have read that in certain conditions you may. I am so sorry this happened to you.
As we are sharing cautionary tales, it seems to me that the 'senior moment' that Oopsadaisy mentioned is more likely to happen if you are stressed or busy. DH & I are of the opinion that is why they call at mealtimes! My normally sceptical & sensible DH was almost caught by a "we're ringing to let you know you are a victim of fraud" scam because it made him anxious (classic misdirection)
We decided that we never respond, however anxious it makes us, but instead ring the bank or 111.
Please, if you can, let us know how it goes.
and thank you for having the courage to come and tell us - every time someone does this it helps to remind us.

So sorry to hear this busybeejay - and thank you for reminding us that it can happen to anyone in just that split second when we aren't focussing on what we are doing.

I have noticed that because I only have a landline phone----as I never wished for a mobile, that these things don't happen so much on the landline as with mobile phones.

EllanVannin not true, all our scam calls come on our landline. It just depends on whether your number was sold on at sometime in the past.

I had a call from the Fraud Squad one night telling me there was a problem with my debit card and to call the bank. Anyone who tells you not to call your bank or asks for any details is scamming. The bank may call you to get in touch but shouldn't discuss your details until you have called them back and they have verified your identity

BlueBelle

Oh goodness I d feel very sick I m so amazed that anyone didn’t know about this scam it’s been talked about so much and been around for ever in similar ways ….but that doesn’t help you, I hope you do get the money back My bank is very tight and always checks with me if I make a payment even over £100
It comes up we want to make sure it’s you blah blah blah
Always put your phone down to disconnect and check with the police station or the bank
Why would you ring 999 to check their validity
We go into obedience mode when people say they re the police
Let us know how you get on

The police and banks advise you to use a different phone to call back to check. This prevents the scammers from just staying on the line and pretending to be someone else.

I am so suspicious when answering the phone to unknown people - I have to answer all calls as I am my mother point of contact for her care home or clinics and they often use withheld numbers or random mobiles to call me. I was once very rude to a woman who spoke with a very strong foreign accent, it turned out to be Mums new social worker!

Oh goodness I d feel very sick I m so amazed that anyone didn’t know about this scam it’s been talked about so much and been around for ever in similar ways ….but that doesn’t help you, I hope you do get the money back My bank is very tight and always checks with me if I make a payment even over £100
It comes up we want to make sure it’s you blah blah blah
Always put your phone down to disconnect and check with the police station or the bank
Why would you ring 999 to check their validity
We go into obedience mode when people say they re the police
Let us know how you get on

ExDancer It was true that someone was trying to buy the £8,000 worth of units from Ikea. I assume Barclaycard blocked them and they didn't succeed. I heard no more about it and was issued with a new card.

EllanVannin

Oh no ! I'd feel sick too, poor you but thankyou so much for the warning.
I have noticed that because I only have a landline phone----as I never wished for a mobile, that these things don't happen so much on the landline as with mobile phones.

I sincerely hope that you do get your money back.

It seems to be the opposite for me, I very rarely get scam phone calls on my mobile but get a lot of cold calls and scams on my landline.

busybeejay I’m so sorry this has happened to you. It’s horrible how cruel these scammers are. I hope you get your money back ??

This sort of scam is so widely publicised yet people still fall for it. They hadn’t tampered with your phone, they simply hadn’t hung up so when you thought you were making another call (and why 999?) you were still speaking to the scammers. So what happened next for you to lose £20k?

Someone used my husband's bank details to book a holiday in a travel agent in London. We are in Birmingham. The bank put it straight back into his account even before they opened an investigation. They seemed to know it wasn't him. I don't know how.

What was true Sparkle? That they had stolen £8000 from you? Did they reimburse you?
I remember some years ago when I got a new kitchen the firm had to phone my card supplier for confirmation because I was spending over my card limit, which I think was just £1000.
They gave temporary cover for that single transaction.
Do we still have a limit on our cards?

I can see why we fall for these scams, a call from the police sends most of us into panic mode.

Several years ago I had a phone call at 8pm on my landline from someone saying he was from Barclaycard Visa and asking me to identify myself to him. I refused, and asked him to identify himself.

Then he told me to ring the phone number I had for Barclaycard because there was possibly a fraudulent transaction on my card.

I hung up and rang the Barclaycard number from my mobile, and it was true !!! Someone had given my card number to buy £8,000 worth of units from Ikea, and it had been flagged up by Barclaycard.

I felt they needed to re-assess their procedures.

How dreadful. I hope you get your money back. Not the same thing really but I had an automated message saying they were my bank and that there had been fraudulent activity on my account. My bank always say they will never leave such messages so I put the phone down and rang the bank.
They said 'Oh yes that was us'. How confusing.

Oh no ! I'd feel sick too, poor you but thankyou so much for the warning.
I have noticed that because I only have a landline phone----as I never wished for a mobile, that these things don't happen so much on the landline as with mobile phones.

I sincerely hope that you do get your money back.

I am sorry to hear this.Action Fraud are so overwhelmed- sadly you will be lucky to get a response from them.

Well we all say that we would never , ever do anything regarding our bank details on the phone don’t we? but it only takes one ‘senior moment’ doesn’t it?
Really, if anyone calls you regarding anything to do with money, put the phone down on them and do your checks on a mobile. Or vice versa.
Phone the bank not 999 though as it’s not an Emergency.
Hopefully if you can prove that they tampered with your phone, you should get your money back.