A north-east man, targeted by fraudsters as part of a nationwide scam on Tesco Bank, has criticised bank bosses after more than £300 of his money was stolen.
IT worker Martin Scoular, from Aberdeen, was among thousands of people across the UK to have been warned by Tesco that the fraud team was investigating their accounts this weekend.
The 55-year-old was enjoying an evening out in the Granite City on Saturday when he received texts and emails asking him to contact them “as soon as possible”.
He rushed home only to spend the rest of the night on hold because the bank’s phone lines were “busy”.
He rang numerous times, for up to an hour at a time, but couldn’t speak with the company.
And it wasn’t until he visited a cash machine yesterday that he discovered £322 had vanished from his account.
Mr Scoular said: “I had been out at the theatre and we were having a drink afterwards when the text came through.
“I was in a bit of a panic, so I got the bus home to ring them straight away.
“I phoned them on and off through the evening before giving up and going to bed. I thought it maybe wasn’t 24/7, so got up at 7am to try again, but it was the same story.
“It’s incredible that this bank doesn’t have the staff to deal with an emergency like this.
“I’m not in a desperate position. I use the account for savings, but I hate to think what has happened to other people who have lost hundreds and that’s all the money they have.
“They have failed in their duty of care to their customers.”
Tesco Bank confirmed that the number of customers affected was “in the thousands but less than 10,000”.
The bank has more than seven million customer accounts and 4,000 staff, based in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.
Despite repeated attempts, Tesco Bank’s press office could not be reached for comment.
However a statement issued on their website reads: “Yesterday evening, we identified some suspicious activity in a small proportion of our customer’s current accounts.
“We have taken steps to protect these account holders and are contacting affected customers by text message. We can reassure our customers that they will not lose out as a result.
“If you are concerned, but haven’t received a text message, check your account for any unusual transactions.
“If all transactions are familiar, it is highly likely you have not been affected. For those impacted, we will re-issue you with a card within 7-10 days.
“Until then, you can continue to use your existing card for Chip & Pin transactions only. We are sorry for any inconvenience.”
