I had a call on Sunday afternoon purporting to be from the Security Department of my bank. The caller said that someone had twice tried to draw money from my account in Belfast. Because it had been compromised I must change my account number immediately and transfer all my money across. Don’t worry, he said, my standing orders and direct debits would be automatically re-routed to the new account.

He asked how much money was in the account and what were the last three transactions. I hastily logged on and gave him the details. He read out the new account number and told me I must do it immediately in case the crooks tried again. They would not be responsible if I delayed.

By now I was beginning to be suspicious and told him I would like to speak to someone in my branch next morning before going ahead. He repeated that they could not be held responsible if the crooks tried again in the meantime. I said I would take that risk. He passed me to a man who he said was his supervisor.

The ‘supervisor’ tried to reassure me that this was normal procedure and I had nothing to worry about. But he spoke in a heavy Middle Eastern accent – not at all bank official-like – further arousing my suspicions. I listened, becoming ever more sceptical, and was eventually passed back to the first speaker.

I told him again that I would like to speak to someone in my branch face to face before changing my account details. His response? ‘You can s*ck my d*ck!’ Then the phone went dead.

I called the bank’s genuine security number. They weren’t that interested. ‘Oh these things happen,’ said the responder, ‘that’s what they do.’ I asked what they were doing to prevent the scam and she said there was nothing they could do.

Since then I have read of similar scams in the newspapers and on-line, and heard reports on BBC radio and ‘Rip Off Britain’. I’ve also learned that the money obtained is quickly transferred to a third account which is almost untraceable.

EVERYONE SHOULD BE MADE AWARE SO PLEASE SHARE WIDELY!

David Lawrence Preston, 8.11.2017

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