Scammer stayed on phone to tell victim ‘you’re so thick’ as he stole her money
A fraud victim has told of the crushing moment a fraudster stayed on the phone after successfully scamming her just to humiliate her.
Wendy Falconer, 63, from Tywyn, Wales, was tricked by a ‘spoofing’ scam in which criminals disguise the phone number they’re calling from for another one.
In her case, she believed she was receiving a call from her bank, as she had saved her bank’s number on her phone and the contact appeared on her screen when her phone rang.
The man on the phone seemed ‘so professional’ and knew details of her account, she told the BBC.
He instructed her to tell him a security code that she received, which gave him access to her account.
The fraudster stole almost £400 from the account while still on the call in October, when Wendy was caring for her husband as he recovered from heart surgery.
Wendy told the BBC: ‘He was laughing, saying I was stupid, his language was unbelievable. And he said if you’d like to go to your app now, you’ll see me take your money.
‘He was laughing so much at me and the language was just awful, calling me names.
‘He said “‘”you’re so thick, you’re so stupid”‘”. I was just in shock.
‘It left me feeling so low, this man was so awful. I don’t want it to happen to anybody else.’
Wendy’s bank eventually refunded her money, but she says she has continued to suffer emotionally.
Police have warned of a variety of similar scams from people pretending to be from their GP, their local pharmacy, or various companies such as Amazon or Apple.
The communications watchdog Ofcom has warned people not to give out sensitive information over the phone after receiving a call from someone else. Calling a service provider directly can reduce risk.
Ofcom said: ‘Never give out your personal information in response to an incoming call, or rely upon the caller ID as the sole means of identification, particularly if the caller asks you to carry out an action which might have financial consequences.’
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