The story of a businesswoman who lost her life savings to a sophisticated text scam is being shared as stark warning of the dangers posed by fraudsters.
BBC One’s Dirty Rotten Scammers programme recently highlighted the story of Millie, a dog trainer from Sussex, who fell victim to a devastating deception during the pandemic. The cruel scam is called number spoofing, The Express reports, and sees criminals contact their victims while hiding their own numbers and pretending to be trusted organisations like banks.
Millie was caught out during the pandemic, when she got a text from what she thought to be 02. The text claimed they had not processed her latest bill and directed her to click the link provided to enter her details again.
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Following the link to a realistic-looking ’02 website’, Millie entered in her personal details. But a few days later she got a call from someone claiming to be part of the fraud team at HSBC, her bank.
The caller told her that someone had tried to take out a direct debit on her card. In a bid to reassure her they were her bank, the scammers quoted Millie’s card number and personal details to her as ‘proof’ of who they were. She was further convinced as the number they called on matched the number for the bank on the back of her credit card.
The scammers convinced Millie that her account had been compromised and suggested that she move her money into a…
