Woman loses life-savings in scam

The woman in her late 60s was tricked into parting with the five-figure sum when fraudsters phoned her Ravelston home on Monday and turned up to collect the cash the following day.

The ‘vishing’ fraud saw the con artists claim to be from her bank and tell her that someone had tried to buy a television from Argos using her bankcard.

They convinced her they were genuine bank employees by mimicking the bank’s phone number on her phone and told her to transfer a five-figure sum of money into a so-called ‘holding account’.

She went to the branch and withdrew the cash and handed it over to them when they turned up at her door on Tuesday, June 7.

Another sum of money was also transferred online into a bogus bank account

Detective Inspector Arron Clinkscales said: “Anyone can fall foul of these sorts of sophisticated frauds and we want to emphasise that the fault entirely lies with the unscrupulous individuals who target older and vulnerable members of the public.

“I would also like to reassure the public that we are doing everything in our power to bring them to justice and also offer the simple preventative advice below to help people protect themselves from these criminals.”

Anyone with information that can assist officers with their inquiries is asked to contact Police via 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Information about how to protect yourself from bogus callers arriving at your door is available in our Keep Safe from Doorstep Crime advice.