Warning issued on ‘genuine sounding’ call scam

An Aberdeen woman is warning others of the dangers of telephone scams after she was targeted last week.

Mather Barbour, from Bridge of Don, was called by a fraudster claiming to be from BT, who told her that her “internet had been compromised” and she was being hacked by someone abroad.

She said the caller sounded “genuine and very believable”.

“It was a foreign number which called,” she added.

“But I didn’t think anything of that as so many companies have their call centres in different countries these days.

“To begin with, I didn’t think anything was wrong.”

It was when the caller

“I knew of frauds in the area and I got suspicious”

asked Ms Barbour to turn on her computer, that she began to question the authenticity of the call.

She said: “I knew about how many frauds had been happening in the area and suddenly got suspicious.

“I called BT and was assured they would never call me about something like that.”

Now she is warning others to be vigilant.

She said: “I don’t want other people to fall for the same thing as I nearly did.

“It is scary how easily it could happen to anyone.”

A BT spokesman said: “We warn our customers to be on their guard against scams.

“Fraudsters use various methods to ‘glean’ your personal or financial details with the ultimate aim of stealing from you.

“We’ll never ask customers for personal information unexpectedly and we’ll never call from an unknown number.”