A WOMAN has told how sick “spoofing” scammers went on a Louis Vuitton spree, gambled and took out loans after stealing £50,000 from her bank account.
Sharna Williams fell victim to a scam where crooks change how their phone number appears on your screen to make it look legitimate.
By the time she twigged what was happening, the scammers had already spent as much as £50,000.
Sharna told the Sheffield Star: “Scammers ‘spoofed’ the bank’s number – taking over my accounts, savings and taking out personal loans.
“They visited Louis Vuitton and gambled many, many times in my name.”
Sharna’s ordeal began in October when she got a phone call from someone saying they were from HSBC.
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The caller said they suspected fraud on Sharna’s HSBC account – raising her suspicions.
She Googled the caller’s telephone number – with the search appearing to confirm they were genuinely from HSBC.
The caller asked Sharna to go through security checks to “check it was her”.
Sharna did the checks and then responded to a voice recognition request.
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She now realises the scammer was trying to impersonate her so they could log into her account.
The scammer locked Sharna out of all of her accounts and her online banking platform.
Oblivious, she carried on using her cards as normal – until seven days later she got a letter outlining a loan in her name for £14,500.
Sharna went to her local HSBC branch in Sheffield, where she learned that the scammers had taken out huge loans in her name
She also found out that the cruel thieves had stolen all of her HSBC savings.
Her accounts showed the scammers had splashed out £1,800 on three trips to Louis Vuitton in London.
They also threw away her hard-earned money on a string of £500 Sky Bet gambling binges.
How to protect yourself from fraudsters
ACTION Fraud recommends taking the following advice to stay safe:
- When making a purchase, be suspicious of any requests to pay by bank transfer or virtual currency instead of safer methods, such as credit card or payment services such as PayPal.
- Listen to your instincts: If something feels wrong then it is usually right to question it. Don’t pay for goods or services unless you know and trust the individual or business.
- Personal information obtained from data breaches is making it increasingly easier for fraudsters to create highly targeted phishing messages and calls – watch out for these.
- You shouldn’t assume the caller is genuine just because they’re able to provide some basic details about you.
- Always be suspicious of unsolicited requests for your personal or financial information.
After spending three hours in the branch trying to stop the damage, Sharna was left without any money for the bus fare home.
She added: “I find it quite distressing that after what had happened to me, I was still expected to undergo things online or on the phone.”
HSBC said: “Fraudsters are devious individuals who target vulnerable customers without a second thought for the consequences of their actions or the impact it has on customers.
“This fraud was particularly complex and required the collaboration of different teams within the bank to rectify.
“However, in some elements of the service we provided we fell short of the high standards we set ourselves.
“We’re sorry for this and have apologised to the customer, with the matter being resolved in December of 2023, with compensation being accepted.
“The customer does have the option to take her complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, if she remains unhappy.”
Action Fraud boss Pauline Smith said Sharna’s case “has not been passed to a police force for investigation”.
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She said: “With more than 850,000 reports coming into the NFIB each year, not all cases can be passed on for further investigation.
“Reports are assessed against a number of criteria which include the vulnerability of the victim.”
What is ‘spoofing’?
OFCOM says scammers are deliberately changing their Caller ID – a ruse known as “spoofing”.
The trick is a way to mimic the number of a real company or person who has nothing to do with the actual caller.
Identity thieves who want to steal your bank account or login details use spoofing to pretend they’re calling from your bank or credit card company.
Find out more about spoofing on the Ofcom website.
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Harry Goodwin
