Police Scotland is advising the public to be vigilant after a recent telephone bank scam in East Lothian where a 57-year-old man was the victim of fraud, with losses of almost £58,000.
The man received a phone call from someone claiming to be from his bank, and told him that there had been fraudulent activity on his account. They asked him if he would be willing to help them, alongside Police Scotland in an internal investigation.
The fraudsters used the name of a legitimate bank employee, and used phone numbers that appeared to be genuinely from Police Scotland to persuade the man to transfer the funds.
Detective Constable Garry Mauran said: “This was a very sophisticated scam. The man genuinely thought he was assisting the bank and the police frauds department and made genuine efforts to check this was legitimate before taking action.
“I would like to remind the public, if fraud has been committed on your account, banks will never contact you direct and ask you to transfer money to another account. If they do – hang up immediately.
“You shouldn’t feel pressured into taking action and transferring money, a genuine caller will understand if you want to make the relevant checks. If anyone is in any way suspicious I would ask then to get in touch with their bank.”
If you have any concerns surrounding fraudulent activity, or feel you may have been scammed, please contact police on 101.
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