Ninewells Hospital pharmacist Emma Drummond is “kicking herself” after being taken in by a bogus caller who stole £1200 from her bank account.
The 32-year-old, from Hepburn Street, was telephoned on Tuesday evening by a person purporting to be from the Bank of Scotland. The man, who spoke with a Scottish accent, seemed plausible as he appeared to have personal information and Emma proceeded to hand over confidential details.
The call ended with the brazen conman thanking his victim for her time and giving her a supposedly official reference number to pick up a new photocard. It was not until later that Emma realised her account had been raided.
The fraud was carried out in three withdrawals and a total of £1200 since refunded by the bank stolen.
“The man said we were due to get a new photocard, which I knew nothing about,” Emma said. “He said he had to confirm a few details and the guy sounded genuine.
“He confirmed my name, my address and my date of birth and he confirmed my sort code and account number too. He told me that to activate the card he needed my telephone banking password and I foolishly gave it to him.”
After hanging up Emma checked her online account and realised £1200 was missing. “I immediately got in touch with the bank and blocked my card. I felt shocked, annoyed and was kicking myself for handing out my details when I realised what had happened.”
A Bank of Scotland spokesman said, “We would never contact a customer in this way and ask them to divulge confidential information. If any customer receives a call like this and is concerned they should terminate the call immediately and contact the local branch manager.”