Business owner loses £95k in ‘clever’ scam over phone
A BUSINESS owner is warning islanders to be wary of any calls claiming to come from their bank, as she waits to find out if any of the tens of thousands of pounds she lost in a sophisticated scam can be recovered.
The owner of the mid-sized Channel Islands agency business was just one of the business owners targeted in the last two weeks by scammers claiming to be from HSBC or NatWest.
A Guernsey Police spokesman said they were still warning islanders to be extremely cautious of unsolicited banking phone calls.
‘We know the scam has been continuing to be operated in Guernsey, Jersey and Gibraltar, where it is understood significant amounts have been lost through scams,’ he said.
In this case, the woman had two calls, where the scammer used the right language and terminology to gain her trust to believe it was her bank.
‘What was so clever about this was the level of manipulation.'
The woman said it was hard to call her bank and speak to a real person, which made confirming the veracity of these calls so hard, and make the desire to identify someone online so tempting. The bank involved suggests people should contact their relationship manager, but the woman in this case said she has never been able to contact her RM and when she did call them during this incident, she was diverted to voicemail.
‘On reflection, I’m not quite sure what I expected from an online ID verification. But on a busy working day to avoid calling the bank back and being on hold for 20 minutes, this was tempting.’
It is still unclear how exactly the scammers managed to make the three debits – totalling £95,000 – from the account. It will now be weeks before the bank find out if they can recover the money.
The woman said the scam had shaken her.
‘It left me feeling a myriad of emotions,’ she said. ‘Foolish, angry, depressed, scared.
'Ashamed was a big one. I feel so ashamed I got caught. It’s a life-changing amount of money, which I may not get back.’
She said the company had still been able to do payroll for its more than 40 staff, but the company directors have taken no pay this month due to the scam.
She has called for banks to do more detailed warnings to customers, so they can recognise the warning signs. She said that in this case, police social media warnings, which she saw after her scam, had been better and more timely than the bank’s.
