- Have YOU been a victim of a scam? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk
BBC News legend Moira Stuart has revealed she fell victim to a sophisticated bank scam.
The Classic FM presenter, 75, was nearly scammed out of her fortune when fraudsters convinced her they had uncovered an ‘inside job at her bank’.
They kept her on the phone the whole time during the 9am call in which they told her someone had removed her money ‘in collusion with staff’ at her local branch.
Stuart was told to go to another bank to sort out the problem where she was only saved by a ‘gorgeous’ cashier who took her to one side to tell her it ‘didn’t sound right’.
The former newsreader said she felt ‘devastated, embarrassed and angry with myself’ after nearly falling for the scam which she didn’t question as she is ex-directory.
Have YOU been a victim of a scam? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk
BBC News legend Moira Stuart has revealed she fell victim to a sophisticated bank scam
The Classic FM presenter, 75, was nearly scammed out of her fortune when fraudsters convinced her they had uncovered an ‘inside job at her bank’
Stuart told The Times: ‘If you’re very independent, as I am, it feels like you have let yourself down, your family, everyone who knows you. This feeling, this intrusion, it doesn’t leave you.’
She admitted she had no idea during the phone call that she was being scammed as heartless swindlers pretended to be from her bank.
‘He said, “We’re going to send this amount of money from your account and see what happens if they intercept it”,’ she said.
Stuart decided to reveal her terrifying ordeal as she thought it was important to speak out to stop others from feeling ashamed about being scammed.
She said: ‘What really concerns me is the people who end up depressed or worse because of fraud, who lose their life savings.
She admitted she had no idea that she was being scammed during the phone call as she is ex-directory and heartless swindlers pretended to be from her bank
‘You haven’t spent your entire life scrimping and saving to make sure you can look after your kids and your grandchildren just to have it stolen from you by some no-good idiot.’
Figures show that APP fraud – when individuals are tricked into sending a payment to someone who is not who they claim to be – for the first half of 2023 was up by 22% amounting to losses of almost £240 million.
Fraudsters may pose as the victim’s bank, or even members of their family.
The key to this scam is that the victim has ‘authorised’ the payment and voluntarily transfers the money.