Police have issued a warning after an attempt to defraud a 93 year old woman yesterday.
The victim received a phone call at around 11.30am from an unknown man who claimed he was from her bank’s defraud department.
He told her that an attempt had been made to take a four figure sum of money from her bank account and instructed her to go to her bank and make a chaps payment to a bank account number that he supplied.
The victim went to her branch to make this payment, but after speaking with a family member she was advised not to go through with the transfer. The bank also advised that this call had been a scam.
Later that day the victim received another call from the suspect. When she told him she wouldn’t be making the transfer, he threatened her. The police were then alerted and enquiries are now under way to trace this man.
PC Grant Palmer said: “This was a despicable attempt to defraud an elderly woman in Edinburgh. I’d like to warn people to be wary of this type of scam and to never transfer money to people you don’t know. These criminals prey on the vulnerable and many have been stripped of their life savings.”
Anyone with any information that can assist should contact police on 101.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
