Alert ‘Scammers cleaned out my bank account’
ABRISTOL woman fell victim to scammers who sent a fake Royal Mail email and drained £2,500 from her bank account and blocked her from regaining access.
The 21-year-old Horfield resident, who does not wish to be named, said she was “caught in a moment of weakness” while her account was being maxed out.
She said: “It doesn’t matter if there was £100 or more – I was left with nothing.
“They have maxed out my credit card which is going to affect my credit score.”
On Friday, November 13, the victim received an email claiming to be from the ‘Royal Mail’, asking her to pay £2 in order for a package to be redelivered.
She paid the money as she thought it looked legitimate and she felt no reason to be concerned.
A few days later, she received a news report from her mother warning her about a ‘Royal Mail’ scam and immediately contacted her bank to cancel her card.
She said later that evening she received a call from a telephone number claiming to be a member of the fraud team – who informed her that £1,500 had been withdrawn from her account.
“They told me to transfer all of my money to a safe account so I told them that I didn’t trust this and that I was going to ring my bank as I’ve cancelled my card.”
She said she was quickly told it was Lloyds Bank and after checking the back of her card she saw the unknown number matched that of the bank.
“They told me to transfer all of my savings to my normal account and then transfer everything that I had into what I thought was a safe account – including an £800 overdraft. They were even sending me text messages from Lloyds Bank so I trusted it. I was caught in a moment of weakness and they cleared me out,” she said.
She said the scammers even locked her out of her account and told her she had to wait 24 hours before she could access it.
After the call ended it dawned on her that she may have been scammed so she alerted her bank, which confirmed her worst fears.
The 21-year-old student said: “They were very persistent and rang me three to four times and just wouldn’t leave me alone.”
She said: “It’s a bit naive of me to be that trusting with someone. It has completely ruined my life. I was left in my overdraft - they maxed out everything. I didn’t know what I was going to do financially - I was completely floored. I’m 21, I’m young and I don’t have that much savings.”
She now wants to warn others to be aware of scammers.
“Always trust your gut and never give any details through an email if you don’t trust it - speak to your bank instead,” she said.
A spokesman for Lloyds Banking Group said: “Helping keep our customers’ money safe is our priority and we have a 24/7 team behind the scenes using cutting-edge technology to fight against fraud.
“Fraudsters are using every trick they can to catch people with their guard down and it’s easy for them to disguise themselves using fake emails as companies, organisations and service providers that people recognise and trust.
“Scammers are ready to disappear as soon as they’ve got their hands on your cash, so it’s more important than ever to treat every email, message and call that you’re not expecting with caution.
“Your bank will never contact you out of the blue and rush you to make a payment or ask you to move money to another account - even if the phone number looks like it’s calling from the bank. The best thing to do is hang up and ring your bank back later on the number on the back of your card, ideally from a different device as fraudsters can keep the line open.
“Even if you think you know the sender, don’t reply to a text or email message if it seems odd and never enter personal information. If you’re not sure, phone the company on a number you trust or visit its website by typing the web address directly into the address bar at the top of your screen.”