Co Armagh couple swindled out of £80k by scammers claiming to be ‘The Fraud Squad’ from London police

Police said the couple were duped after receiving a call on Sunday (13th March) from a person claiming they were from ‘The Fraud Squad’ of police in London.

The PSNI said the man was told his accound had been hacked and to check it out.

He noticed a transaction on his account he didn’t make and was told by the scammer to create a separate account to transfer funds.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “Both the man and his wife did this and, in total and in a matter of minutes, £77,000 was transferred from their accounts to the scammer/s. Enquiries are ongoing into the matter.”

Inspector Mark Conway said: “Any amount of money lost to a scammer is a horrible experience. In this particular case, where such a significant amount of money has been taken, it is devastating.

“This couple have been conned out of their hard-earned cash - tens of thousands of pounds. We can only imagine how distressing and traumatic this ordeal is for them.”

Inspector Conway says the threat of fraud, both online and offline, against the public ‘is a constant focus for us, and I want to appeal to people that, on no account, should anyone disclose their personal or financial details over the phone’.

“Please, be on your guard. Scammers are relentless and are constantly finding ways and means to con people,” says Inspector Conway. “Always err on the side of caution. It’s also really important if you have older members of family, talk with them and tell them legitimate providers will never seek their personal details, such as banking information, over the phone. This is a really important conversation to have.

“Guarding your personal and banking details is essential. Never disclose them to any unauthorised person.”

A PSNI spokesperson said: “To any consumer scammed with funds leaving their bank account, contact your bank/financial institution immediately so that attempts can be made to recover funds and cancel and effected services. Anyone concerned they’ve been a victim of a scam can report the matter to Action Fraud via their website www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040. You can also call us on 101, or submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/

“We also have lots of advice on our website at https://bit.ly/3tbprn0”

Information and advice is also available at www.nidirect.gov.uk/scamwiseni or the ScamwiseNI Facebook page @scamwiseni

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