A new mum lost her savings to a phone scam & shares her cautionary tale. Learn how to protect yourself from similar fraud.
She shared that she lost her savings, which is especially scary since she’s on leave. Amelia hopes others learn from their experience. She knows people might think she’s foolish, but it’s easy to get tricked. She wants people to avoid the same mistake.
Pete got a call from an unknown number, with the caller claiming his account was hacked and he needed to act fast. He texted Amelia about the threat, saying he was “sorting it” with the bank. He then asked Amelia for her card details.
Without thinking, she sent them to Pete. Then, she suddenly wondered about it, thinking, “The bank knows my details!” Her husband then said she needed to authorize a payment. This seemed strange to Amelia. Pete conveyed that the bank told him to transfer the funds for safekeeping in a different account.
This set off alarms for Amelia. She checked her online banking account and found no contact attempts from her bank. Pete said it hid the issue from the hacker. Amelia felt uneasy and suspected something was wrong.
Despite her doubts, Amelia approved the transaction. She said they paid someone all their savings and felt it was silly and stupid. Amelia needed to take a break in her filming because she was upset.
Pete received a call where someone said their account was hacked and the scammer wanted to spend all their savings. Pete followed the scammer’s steps. The person knew details of the account, so it seemed legitimate, leading Pete to follow instructions. They said they’d move the money to a safe account.
Amelia advises others to avoid falling for such scams. Banks do not call with no caller ID, and they never ask you to move funds. You can check your bank app to see when your last call occurred. Knowing that could have helped them.
Amelia and Pete feel stupid about what happened. They want to share their experience anyway, as they do not want others to lose money. Scams are becoming more advanced as scammers mimic bank numbers, making it seem legitimate.
If you get a call like this, hang up immediately. Call the number on the back of your card. Report the scam if you lost money. Action Fraud handles this in parts of the UK; call 0300 123 2040. Police Scotland handles it in Scotland; call 101 to report it.