A 69-year-old woman from the Turriff area has become the latest victim of a cruel telephone hoax which emptied her bank account of £15,000 worth of life savings.
People have been warned to be extra vigilant about phonecalls received at their home after the ‘vishing’ attack on the innocent pensioner.
It is the third known scam of its type, typically carried out by fraudsters who pose as bank staff, to have been reported in the area in recent months.
All have seen their victims persuaded to move thousands of pounds out of their bank accounts and into the hands of the fraudsters in a scam which takes just minutes to execute.
Crucially, the fraudsters exploit a quirk of the BT phone network which means that a phone line stays open even once the caller has hung up.
Once the frauster has made the initial call to their victim, they instruct them to immediately phone the number on the back of their bankcard in order to make the transfer.
It is then that the victims rings straight back through to the scammer – or an accomplice – before moving the funds in good faith.
Constable Kevin Marron, of the police crime reduction unit, said people should “always be suspicious” if someone requests a money transfer or requests bank or personal details over the phone.
He added: “We would advise that if you are telephoned by anyone pertaining to be from your bank to telephone your bank back – especially if it involves transferring money, providing or confirming your bank details.
“Always look up your bank’s telephone number and do not use a number the caller provides. Furthermore, if you do decide to ring back and verify the call it is advisable to do so on a different phone line, like another landline or on your mobile.
“If this isn’t possible, leave at least 30 minutes between receiving the suspect call and making a new call.
One man from Oldmeldrum recently spoke of his “shame” after being duped out a four figure sum with one couple from Aberdeen losing more than £40,000 to the fraud earlier this year.
It is understood that none of the victims have been able to retrieve their funds from their bank.
The Turriff woman, who has declined to speak about her ordeal, was at home when she was contacted via her landline by a woman posing as a bank employee.
She was advised that more than £15,000 had been accidentally transferred into her account and that the woman would have to return it, with the trickster then talking the woman through the transfer procedure.
After later checking her account, she realised that the fraudster had transferred the customer’s own money into a new account set up by the scammer.