Trowbridge couple conned out of £78,000

This scam is very widespread in the UK.

http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/11025095._/?

The couple, who are in their 80s, lost their life savings when someone claiming to be from their bank rang telling them they should contact the Metropolitan Police as their money was at risk.

The fraudster simply stays online so that when the victims believes they're speaking to the police/bank they're actually still speaking to the fraudster who then either persuades them to transfer money in to an account they control or they persuade the victim to divulge their card details.

The police or bank would never ever ask you to transfer your money anywhere as they could do it themselves if it were necessary and you should never disclose your bank details to any caller. If they are who they claim to be they would know the details anyway, and anyone asking for a pin or password is a fraudster.

[AlanJones]

This type of scam relies on an idiosyncrasy of the UK landline phone system (which may be present in other countries) - only the person making the call can terminate it. If the receiver of the call hangs up then the line will remain open until the caller terminates the call.

So when the victim hangs up and then calls their bank/the police, they will actually still be connected to the scammer, who will play dial tone and ringing sounds to convince the victim they are making a new call.

http://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/local/keep-an-eye-out-for-bank-fraudsters-1-5893201

On Monday evening three separate victims aged between 66 and 70-years-old from Bletchley, Emerson Valley and Willen Park, all got calls from a person claiming to come from the Metropolitan Police Fraud Squad.

This scam has taken place across the Thames Valley police area.

The article details all the variations of this scam that has become very prevalent all over the UK.