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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Claire Galloway

Police in East Lothian warn fraudsters tried to steal £9k from elderly woman in phone scam

Police in East Lothian are warning people to be "vigilant of calls and emails" after scammers tried to trick an elderly woman into transferring them £9k.

The pensioner from Musselburgh was subject to a telephone scam from a person posing as a telephone service provider.

The fraudsters duped the lady into accessing her bank account and managed to move money between her accounts to make it look like she had been overpaid a substantial amount of money.

They then asked her to go to her bank and transfer £9,000 back into their account and to say it was for a "friend".

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Staff at The Royal Bank of Scotland in Musselburgh were alerted to the transaction and under Banking Protocol - an initiative between the police, banking institutions & Trading Standards - notified police. 

The Banking Protocol initiative aims to identify vulnerable victims who are in the process of being defrauded by criminals and intervene.

A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: "We remind you all to be vigilant of these types of calls and emails, and to advise, support and educate your family, friends and neighbours."

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