Pensioner left "feeling sick for days" after losing thousands to "polite" scammer

Eleanor Young said that cruel scammers left her feeling "sick for days" after their elaborate con tricked her in to handing over thousands of pounds from her bank account.

A Stirling woman has told how she was left “feeling sick for days” after she was swindled out of £3,500 in an elaborate scam.

Eleanor Young, 77, was targeted by criminals pretending to be from her bank’s fraud prevention team.

The scheming liars provided Eleanor with her own date of birth, phone number, recent spending and other personal information in an attempt to gain her trust.

Mrs Young, who lives in Causewayhead with her husband Joe, 89, believed she was interacting with the Royal Bank of Scotland’s fraud department.

A conman, who said he was a member of the banking giant’s fraud team, then told her that there had been suspicious activity on her account – even providing her with details of her latest purchase.

From there, the crook claimed that he would have to ask Mrs Young to withdraw the funds from the account so that it could be closed and a new one set up.

Mrs Young made the trip to the bank branch at Stirling’s Thistles Centre to withdraw the sum.

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A “courier” then arrived at her home address to take the sum away and place it into what she thought would be a new bank account – with a new bank card to follow just a few days later.

However, after handing the “courier” £3,500, Mrs Young never saw the cash again and no new bank card ever showed up.

Speaking to the Stirling Observer this week, Mrs Young said: “I got a call from what I can only describe as a very polite man.

“He was able to tell me my date of birth, he had my phone number and he could even tell me the latest payments on my account – it was very convincing.

“It was all very frightening. It was totally out of character for me.

“It almost feels as if that wasn’t me.

“I just felt sick for a few days afterwards – not about the money, but that I had been taken in by it all.”

Mrs Young describes the “courier” who arrived at her home as being a young man, and wearing dark or black clothing and a face mask.

Inspector Steven McCooey, of Stirling Police Office, described the brazen scam as “highly disturbing”.

He added: “This is a highly disturbing method which has been used
before.

“We’ve had several similar calls, with members of the public not engaging with persons on the call, but instead phoning the police to report.

“If anyone has received a call, please terminate the call, and contact Police Scotland.”

Age Scotland – the national charity for older people in Scotland – has
called for vigilance in the wake of viral scams against Scotland’s older population.

Policy director, Adam Stachura said: “Although we know that people of all ages can fall for scams, it’s unfortunately the case that older people are at greater risk of being targeted by scammers.

“Scams come in all guises – by telephone, email, text, postal and doorstep – and callous scammers are using ever more devious methods to try to con and swindle older people out of money.

“It’s not uncommon for scammers to pretend they are from the police or the person’s bank, and that they are ‘helping’ protect the person’s money from fraudsters.

“It’s important to remember that the police or a bank will never ask a person to withdraw or transfer money or
ask for personal details, including bank account numbers and PINs.

“And if in doubt about the identity of the caller, hang up.

“No-one should feel ashamed of falling for a scam – scammers can be extremely convincing, and many people of all ages are taken in by their lies.

“Age Scotland’s updated advice guide, Avoiding Scams, has a wealth of information on the various types of scams, how to spot them and details about what to do if you think you have fallen victim to a scam.

“You can call our helpline on 0800 12 44 222 for a free copy of the guide.”

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