Bank fraud: elderly couple lose their savings as Islanders conned out of £147,000 in just a few days

Tuesday 30 September 2014

NatWest have been hit with a formal complaint after an elderly couple targeted by fraudsters transferred their entire bank balance to the scammers – and a member of the bank’s staff even pressed the button to authorise transaction on their behalf.

The couple – both 83 – have now lost their entire bank balance, but their family say that the bank should take the blame for not raising any questions or taking any steps to protect them.

The couple were just one of a group of mainly elderly Islanders who have been conned by fraudsters in the last few days. Together, they have lost a total of £147,000 and police are warning Islanders not to fall for bank detail scams.

The letter from the couple’s daughter asked why no one at the bank picked up on the suspicious activity, what specific training is given, and asks why a member of staff approved the payment.

It says: “My father was so upset and confused that when asked to put his card in the machine to authorise the transaction, he couldn’t press the green acceptance key – the member of staff did it for him.

“Why did the member of staff not show the verification slip to my parents to check as they would have seen that the name of the account wasn’t my father’s name, also my father would have seen the small print saying that the transaction could not be recalled. They only recalled the notification slip after the transaction had happened.”

Detective Inspector Dave Burmingham, the head of the Police and Customs Joint Financial Crimes Unit, has issued advice to anyone who isn’t sure about a call about their bank details – whether the caller claims to be a policeman or someone from your bank.

He said that anyone who isn’t sure about a call should remember that banks will never ask you to transfer money, and offered three points of advice: never give your PIN or bank card details to any cold callers; if you are contacted by someone who asks for those details, hang up; and use a different phone to report the call to police or allow at least five minutes for your phone line to clear automatically.

The police say that the last few days have seen several incidents of fraudsters pretending to be bank workers or police officers reporting dodgy card activity, and asking their victims to call them back to confirm their identity – the catch is that the line stays open, so when the victim tries to make a fresh call to the bank or police, the fraudsters are still on the other end of the phone.