Kirsty McCusker had £17,000 savings wiped out when a crook claiming to be calling from her bank raided her account.
The scammer insisted he was from Clydesdale’s fraud team – caller ID on her phone backed that up – and he also knew personal and bank details.
But instead of ringfencing her money, he cleared the balance and disappeared without trace.
Kirsty, 47, said: “I’ve been in floods of tears over this. My stress levels are through the roof.
“It beggars belief that this man knew all about me and the balance on both my current and savings accounts. The number he was calling from also matched the one stored on my phone for Clydesdale Bank.”
Mum-of-two Kirsty received a call on October 21. She said: “The man I spoke to said he was calling from the verification department for fraud. He explained there had been two payments from my account – one to Argos for £700 and another for £1000 to Apple.
“I told him I hadn’t made them. He said not to worry and he’d have someone call me back.”
A second caller, who said his name was Michael, told Kirsty three employees were under investigation for accessing customer accounts. She said: “He told me the only way to protect my money was by setting up a new account.
“He issued a new account number and sort code, then helped me transfer £17,000 to the new account. I did this via online banking.”
Kirsty, a beauty salon owner, received at least three further calls from the scammer.
She said: “He was supposed to be transferring my direct debits over and kept calling back to update me. He said he would phone me once that process was complete. But the penny dropped when I never heard from him.”
She was hysterical and called Clydesdale. Kirsty, of Bellshill, Lanarkshire, said: “I had to phone three times before they would put me through to their actual fraud department.
“Then I was made to feel more like a criminal than a victim. Two weeks on, my accounts are still frozen and I’m no further forward despite involving the police.
“I’ve been with Clydesdale for 30 years. But they keep telling me they are not liable and my only chance of a refund is if there’s still money in the receiving account.”
I previously told how reader Kirsteen Cockburn, of Brora, Sutherland, had her Clydesdale Bank account hacked by £4500.
I quickly discovered Kirsty’s cash had gone to a Barclays account. But the good news is Barclays was able to ringfence the £17,000 and return it.
A spokesman said: “This scam was a sophisticated attempt to steal funds carried out by fraudsters impersonating staff at Clydesdale Bank.
“By acting immediately, we were able to secure all of Mrs McCusker’s funds and prevent any further loss. We’ve returned all her money and closed the account in question.”
Clydesdale said: “We are liaising with the beneficiary bank and will return any recovered funds to Mrs McCusker as soon as we receive them.”
