A Glasgow mum fell victim to a cruel scam which saw her emptying her and her children's bank accounts.
Catherine LeMay was tricked by scammers, who pretended to be from Royal Mail, into clearing out her family's entire savings.
She is now urging others to be vigilant and not be caught out by similar scams.
Speaking about the incident, Catherine said she was rushing around doing the school run and quickly responded to a text pretending to be from Royal Mail about a missed parcel.
After clicking on the link to rebook it she thought nothing more of it and carried on with her day, reports the Express.
She said: “I looked again at the website and realised it was a replica and quickly phoned Santander to cancel my card.”
The mum continued: “The card hadn’t been used so I was fairly calm at this point.”
Two days later she received a call from someone pretending to be from Santander’s fraud squad.
When she asked if he was genuinely from the bank, he asked her to go onto the internet and check the phone number.
Catherine explained: “It was indeed a Santander number.”
Scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated with fraudsters going to extreme lengths to convince their victims that they are genuine.
The mum added: “He stayed on the phone for over an hour telling me about the parcel ‘Phishing Scam’ that 36,000 people across the UK have been hit by, including me.”
After convincing her he was trying to help, she moved all the family’s savings into a ‘safe account’ where it promptly disappeared.
Thankfully, Santander has since agreed to replace the funds she’s lost.
On its website Santander said: “While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to protecting yourself from fraudulent activity, we’ve put together a list of things that can help you spot and avoid fraud and scams.
“Always think carefully before making a payment, especially if it’s a lot of money for you. Speak to someone you trust first, like a friend or family member, before making payments.
“Pay extra attention to the warnings we provide when making a payment.
“They’re in place to help you bank safely and avoid being scammed."
Santander have put together a list of things that can help you spot and avoid fraud and scams:
- Anyone can be easily impersonated, and criminals can make the caller ID, email address or name look exactly like the genuine caller. So, if you receive an email, text or call, verify it’s genuine by phoning them back on a known and trusted number.
- When making a payment, always take the time to complete extra checks to make sure the payee and the payment is genuine. This includes reading reviews, researching companies or websites, and verifying the person or company are who they say they are.
- Don’t allow anyone to access your computer or devices remotely. This is because criminals can ask you to click on a link or download an app.
- Remember, your bank, the police or any trusted organisation will never ask you to withdraw, transfer or send back money from your account. If you’re asked to do this, it’s a scam.
Customers can contact Santander on 0800 9 123 123 and report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
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