Bogus callers swipe £8k

Jun 26 2009 by Lisa Boyle

HUGH Thomson had £8000 swiped from his bank account after his phone line was bugged.

Mr Thomson explained: “I came home and my wife told me the bank had been on the phone because they were concerned about the activity on my account.

“Just then they phoned back. He asked what was happening with my account. I had just been made redundant, so there was a lot of money in the account.

“He asked me lots of security questions, which I answered. As far I was concerned I was talking to Halifax Bank of Scotland.

“We were in a rush at the time because we were heading to Glasgow Airport to go on holiday, he caught us on the hop.

“But after the call I thought something wasn’t right, so we headed into the bank and I cancelled my cards. I now know I should have frozen the account.

“When we got to Glasgow Airport I still felt uneasy, so I went to the cashline to check my account and there was £8000 missing from it.

“It happened within 50 minutes of the phone call. The police said these guys don’t waste any time.”

The money had been put in various bank accounts in eight withdrawals of £1000.

Mr Thomson continued: “Luckily I will get my money back, but it put a real dampener on my holiday.”

But Mr Thomson’s case was to take another sinister turn.

He explained: “The man had a really distinctive accent, like he was Indian but with a strong Scottish accent mixed in.

“My son was looking after our house while we were on holiday. I phoned the house while we were away and the man who conned me answered. I couldn’t believe it. I asked who it was and he said he was a Mr Andrews from BT. When I said I knew exactly who he was he hung up.”

It seems that the con man had been tapping into Mr Thomson’s phone line.

The police, HBOS and Mr Thomson’s phone company are all investigating the theft.