An Edinburgh family have described how they have been left with no money to feed their kids after heartless scammers left them with just £11.
Mum-of-two Fiona Walker described how been left with £11 to her name after heartless scammers took a thousand pounds out of her account.
Fiona, 30, has epilepsy and says the stress of losing her family’s food money for the month to a scammer has caused her to have ten seizures since she discovered the fraud on Monday (September 14).
Fiona and husband Craig, 32 say they are desperate and don’t know how they will feed their kids; Declan, 7, and Jacob, 3.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live Fiona said a fraudster had called her convincing her he was from her bank, RBS on Monday.
The sophisticated scam saw the con artist quoting to Fiona the balances of her accounts, she said: “He could tell me exactly what money I had going in, he could tell me about the transactions on my account, he could tell me every single direct debit I had.
“He could even tell me my security questions, that not even my husband knows.”
Believing the scammer was a bank employee who was helping her improve her security Fiona allowed him to talk her through setting up a new account. He then cajoled her into transferring £1000 out of her account into what she believed was her new account he had just help her set up.
She even said the hold music they used was the same.
It was only after the call was finished and the money had been moved out of her account that Fiona realised she a had a bill going out of her, now empty, account the next day.
It was only then that she was told the horrifying truth, that a fraudster had taken her money.
“I phoned my bank straight back up and when I gave RBS the account number and the sort code they said: ‘I’m sorry Ms Walker you have been scammed, we’ll have to pass you through fraud.”
What followed was hours of waiting on the phone talking to representatives of the bank.
She said: “I spent four and a half hours on Monday getting passed from pillar to post.”
Eventually the bank said that their investigation would take up to 45 days and there was no guarantee her money would be recovered. Meanwhile the family have been left broke.
‘I’ve got a family to feed, I’ve got a seven-year-old and a three-year-old to feed. I said I suffer from epilepsy, my Personal independence payment I just got on Monday – it’s all away. I’ve got no money now’.”
The scammers tried to call again, but now knowing it was fake Fiona decided to ignore their calls, but the crooks wouldn’t give up.
“In total they have phoned twenty times over the last two days, trying to get the last of my money.”
Fiona and Craig said they wanted to share their story to stop the same thing happening to others. “Honestly, this was so believable, I didn’t doubt it because they knew so much information, they acted like the bank.”
She said “Since Monday I have had ten epileptic seizures because I’m that stressed out. I’m fining it hard to sleep because I don’t feel safe. This person knows my address and everything, my phone number, my full bank details – its scary.”
The next time she receives her universal credit payment is October 8 “the police are doing their side of the investigation, the bank have told me they’re going to take 45 days – if I don’t get my money back before the eighth, we’ve got nothing.”
Police said they were investigating the incident.
"Police Scotland can confirm that a report was received on Tuesday, 15 September, 2020, from a woman in Falkirk relating to a telephone fraud. Enquiries are at an early stage."
Edinburgh Live has contacted RBS for a comment.
