A former BBC journalist has revealed she recently fell for a phone scam which caused hackers to empty her bank accounts.
Abbie Dewhurst, from Leeds, said she was “quite embarrassed” about handing over her personal information, but wanted to tell her story to raise awareness about how often they happen.
A month ago, the journalist said she had some suspicious activity in her account, which alerted her bank.
After the money was refunded, his cards were canceled and new ones were sent to his address.
Abbie said and then said she received a phone call from who she thought was her bank’s fraud team, but it was actually the scammers.
She admitted she was distracted because she was packing things into her car at the time, making it the “perfect” situation for the criminals to attack.
Abbie said: “I did exactly what everyone tells you not to do and the person who called me was very convincing and as I say these words I think, ‘Abbie, you’re an idiot.’
“I felt a little vulnerable about the fact that it happened and I would also pride myself on being very passionate about this sort of thing.”
Abbie Dewhurst, from Leeds, said she was “quite embarrassed” about handing over her personal information, but wanted to tell her story to raise awareness about how often they happen.
He said the hackers had a lot of his personal information, which they told him over the phone in an attempt to appear trustworthy and legitimate.
The scammers even had Abbie confirm a recent expense in her account to “get past security.”
Once he got past their non-existent measures, he was told there had been more attempts on his card and was told he had to reset his banking.
The scammers then asked Abbie for a code she got from her real bank, and she admitted she “felt a strange offer” at the time.
Abbie handed the code to the criminals over the phone, but then saw her bank’s fine print on the email, which said: “Please note that we will never ask you to read this number over the phone” and immediately knew she had done it. .
The presenter then hung up on the scammers and called her real bank to tell them what happened, before also informing her partner.
“I could see ping, ping, ping, spending in my account, they transferred the money from my ISA to my current account,” Abbie said.
‘They were spending on it, they were spending on our joint account. “It was really stressful and scary.”
Abbie said she eventually answered the phone to the scammers, but was greeted with verbal abuse.
Abbie received a lot of positive comments on her video, with people thanking her for raising awareness about scams.
Abbie said luckily she was able to get help quickly and transferred all the money from her other accounts to her husband’s banks, but the scammers were still trying to spend her cash.
Her bank canceled all of her cards and froze her online banking, which meant Abbie had no idea what status her accounts would be in until she received her new cards.
The criminals kept trying to call her mobile phone, but Abbie rejected all the calls she received.
He then messaged Nick Stapleton, another BBC journalist working at Scam Interceptors, who told him to answer the phone and tell them he knew they were scammers.
Abbie added: “Then they started calling me names, basically saying I’m an idiot and other things I can’t even say.”
“But they just insulted me more after robbing me blind, so it wasn’t a very pleasant experience.”
‘If something in your gut tells you it’s not right, then the reality is that it probably isn’t right. So stay alert. It’s a scary world, isn’t it?
Abbie received a lot of positive comments on her video, with people thanking her for raising awareness about scams.
One wrote: ‘Something similar happened to my mother while she was making dinner and trying to get ready for work.
‘She didn’t give them money but that shook her. Thanks for sharing.’
Another wrote: ‘My husband went through the same thing… and he works in a bank!’
A third said: “Horrible, thank you and well done for putting this in a little video for people to see.” Hoping it helps many.’
A fourth commented: ‘Well done for being honest, it shows anyone can fall for it. Question everything.’