Elderly Northumberland woman duped out of £120,000 in phone scam

Police are issuing a warning after an elderly Northumberland woman was duped out of £120,000, as part of a telephone scam.
News from Northumbria PoliceNews from Northumbria Police
News from Northumbria Police

The victim received a hoax call to her home address – which police are unable to disclose – yesterday.

The caller claimed to be an officer at Scotland Yard – Metropolitan Police and told the woman her bank account had been targeted by criminals. They asked her to withdraw money from her account and transfer it to their account for safe keeping.

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Officers are urging residents to continue be on their guard against such hoax calls. Detective Inspector Angela Hufton said: “It’s important for residents to know that a police officer or bank would never ask a member of the public to withdraw money or give any of their personal details over the phone in this way.

“Please do not be fooled by these callers, even if they sound professional, and don’t be frightened to make contact with either the police or the bank to confirm their identity.

“Often callers will give telephone numbers they control to call back on to verify details which fools victims that the call is genuine.

“We urge all residents to remain vigilant and report any calls they receive of this nature to the police straight away.

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“Any genuine callers will not mind waiting or being asked to call back while their identification is checked. It is important to only use widely publicised contact numbers for the police or banks.

“If anyone has any elderly or vulnerable relatives or friends we would ask them to remind them to be vigilant and be on their guard to such bogus callers.”

Further information about bogus callers is available on the Northumbria Police website . Inquiries into the incident are ongoing and anyone with information to help is asked to contact police on 101 quoting reference 0641 19/05/16 or Crimestopppers anonymously on 0800 555111.