My husband needed to renew his mobile phone contract. He decided that he’d just get a new SIM card. He went to the local store only to discover that it was closed so had to purchase one on line.
Ideally he would speak to a human being and discuss options. He spent a couple of days trawling the internet and finally decided on a ‘really good deal’. He painstakingly completed the online form and entered his bank account details. He received a message telling him that the account name didn’t agree with the address.
After trying again he clicked onto their help desk icon. Someone with a local accent answered his call. The relief was noticeable! He explained the problem and was asked to re-input his bank account details. He received the same error message and advised to contact his bank. My husband was beginning to get agitated.
After insisting that there was nothing wrong with his bank account, the very apologetic voice at the end of the phone suggested he try another account. Perhaps his credit card would be a better option? He produced his card and updated the online document. The same error message rejected his card.
It was at this point that I saw an email arrive from the company welcoming him and offering further special offers. I felt some relief as I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. I looked up at my husband’s thunderous face as he replied to the suggestion to contact his credit card company as well! I glanced down at my screen and the email had vanished! I definitely hadn’t imagined seeing it arrive!
I found it in the recycle bin, marvelling as to how it could possibly have got there! I checked the helpline number on the screen. By this time my husband had hung up. The two numbers were different. That’s when the alarm bells began to ring. He checked his bank account and three £1 debits had appeared. Each time he had entered his account details. How could the helpline numbers have changed? Or maybe the number got diverted? Is this a scam linked to the bank account details? We’d probably never know!
£1 had debited his credit card as well. This is what scammers do to check the validity of accounts! My husband rang the number on the email. The number was not recognised. Looking visibly distressed he went into his office to contact his bank and credit card providers. Another challenge awaited him! Call centres are rarely a pleasant experience!
I started preparing the evening meal. I was furious! My husband is not gullible and yet he had been conned into giving both his bank account and credit card details! The website had looked authentic. There was nothing to suggest that there was a problem! If he hadn’t tried his credit card we would not have given it a second thought! My husband’s bank account would have been been emptied! He doesn’t check it every day!
I can now understand how so many people get hoodwinked into handing over vast amounts of money. These fraudsters are very plausible. Stores aren’t open to get personal assistance. It is the perfect environment for scammers to con frustrated, lockdown exhausted people just trying to get on with their daily lives! Truly despicable!
We were lucky. So many aren’t! Let’s hope that the adage ‘as ye sew so shall ye reap’ will come back to haunt each and every one of them! Ideally they get scammed themselves! Sweet justice! Probably naive of me because the devil looks after his own! 👠
Jenny Burrell 