Fraudsters drain £10,000 from bank account of St Keverne man in bogus BT call centre scam
By
G_WIlkinson | Posted: June 20, 2017
A man has spoken of how he was fleeced out of more than £10,000 in a bogus BT call centre scam.
The fraudsters were able to steal the cash without even asking for his bank details.
Tony Brown, 74, said he hoped his experience will now warn others not to fall for the same trap.
He was caught out after scammers called and asked him to download a 'system checker' software programme. He was then asked to log on to his online banking account.
In reality, the download file allowed the hackers to take control of his computer and drain his bank accounts and ISA savings.
Mr Brown, from St Keverne on the Lizard peninsula, said: "This was probably the worst day of my life. It started with a call from someone claiming to be from BT explaining that our computer was having problems that were causing it to run slowly.
"I could hardly understand what he was saying for the background noise. He said we had problems caused by hackers and BT had evidence that most of our files had been corrupted and infiltrated. They suggested I download a system file checker that would repair the damage and prevent any further intrusions. It would take a while but it would be a firm preventative."
Mr Brown said he was directed to a website and asked by the man on the telephone to click on a link to download a file.
He said: "I was doubtful at first but I allowed them to download the file and when they asked if I used the computer for official business, I told them amongst other things, I used it for personal banking. They asked me to turn it on and log into my bank account."
"After about half an hour of waiting, with intermittent apologies for the time it was taking and assurances that things were going well, Sandy, my wife, stormed into the room and asked what on earth was going on.
"When I explained, she said it was probably a scam and that I should turn it off immediately. But I took no notice until almost an hour had passed. She returned so I switched off the computer and went to my bank website."
Mr Brown said he was sickened to see that £10,615 was now missing.
"I couldn't believe my eyes and yet I had even asked the voice I'd been talking to if the whole thing was a scam," he said.
"The man laughed and, above the racket, he had assured me everything was above board and that he would not be asking for any private details. He said that they were unnecessary.
"I assume now that the background noise was there to represent a very busy office.
Mr Brown contacted his bank, the Co-Op, which was able to trace and return £2,500 from a bank account in London.
The rest of the money was lost and Mr Brown was told that because he had voluntarily allowed access to his bank account that it could not returned.
He added: "I felt violated. I was shaken and depressed. More than anything I was ashamed for being so gullible. Nothing like this has happened to me before. But Sandy gave me much needed reassurance and now we feel it's time to put the shame behind us and go forward. I hope this can serve as a warning to others."
http://www.cornwalllive.com/fraudst...-centre-scam/story-30400588-detail/story.html