Phone fraudster pretending to be daughter scammed all my savings
Sheelagh tells how elaborate con convinced her messages were real
A MUM lost her life savings to a text scammer who posed as her daughter.
Sheelagh Stewart believed Beth, 22, had sent a message begging for help because her online banking had been frozen.
The fraudster convinced her she was on a temporary number after dropping her phone in the toilet.
They claimed to have a £1390.45 invoice that urgently needed paying and asked for the cash to be transferred to a new account.
Pharmacy worker Sheelagh told how she was duped because the messages were worded in a similar style to Beth’s.
She instantly transferred the cash and made another payment of £1180.28 later that day.
Sheelagh, 65, said: “I was convinced the messages were from Beth. The grammar was the same, there was no broken English, it didn’t seem like an odd message to receive from her. It never crossed my mind to question it.
“To be told about a broken phone and to be asked for some help is definitely the kind of text a child would send to their parent.
“I’ve since showed the messages to someone who works in a bank and they said if their daughter had sent them, they would have sent them money too.
“Like any mum, my initial reaction was to help her.”
Sheelagh, from East Calder in West Lothian, believed Beth must have ordered equipment for her work and needed to settle invoices.
She added: “Beth is a beautician and the salon she was working in had just been raided, so I thought the money must have been for equipment.
“Beth always pays me back, and on that particular day, I was in the middle of taking my friend to visit an elderly relative who has dementia, so I had a lot on my mind. It just never occurred to me that it could be a scam.”
When the scammer went on to ask for another £996.48, Sheelagh began to sense something was wrong.
The mum asked her daughter to confirm her identity.
She said: “The reply came in as, ‘Mum, stop freaking out’, and, ‘Only I would know your hair is blonde’. After that I realised what was really going on.
“I called Beth straight away and she confirmed it wasn’t her.”
Sheelagh told how the con artist had wiped out funds she had been saving to take Beth on a family holiday.
She said: “I had planned to use that money to take Beth on a really special surprise trip.
“I only earn £9 an hour, so that money is a lot of money to me. I feel so stupid.”
Sheelagh’s bank Santander has launched a probe into the scam which was reported this month.
A spokesperson said: “We have a great deal of sympathy for the victims of scams and fraud, and we take the protection of our customers and prevention of fraud extremely seriously.
“We are investigating Ms Stewart’s situation and will provide her with an update on her claim shortly.”
Police Scotland confirmed it is investigating.