The Sunday Post (Inverness)

They said I owed £4,000 and could go to prison

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Edinburgh couple Ian and Margaret Meikle were almost conned out of thousands of pounds by a phone scam. Margaret, 69, received a call from someone pretending to be the taxman – who claimed they were thousands of pounds in debt and risked going to jail. When they said they couldn’t access a large amount of cash, the fraudsters nearly persuaded the couple to pay them with Steam vouchers, which are usually used to purchase computer games, software and accessorie­s. Margaret said: “I was told there was a warrant out for my arrest and I was in debt to somewhere around £4,000 and if I didn’t pay this I could go to prison. “They were so convincing, and they knew my National Insurance number.” “They said we had to get Steam vouchers from PC World.”

Ian, 69, said: “The lady at PC World explained what the vouchers were for and said it was a con, don’t buy them.”

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