Frausters attempted to scam elderly woman in Midlothian by pretending to be bank employees

The telephone scammers pretended to be genuine bank employees, and tried to defraud an elderly woman from Penicuik out of a significant amount of money.

The elderly woman received a phone call on Monday, December 6, from someone claiming to be from her bank, who told her that there had been fraudulent activity on her husband’s account.

The fraudster told the woman that bank employees had been stealing cash from customer accounts. She was falsely informed that police were involved, and was asked go to her local branch, withdraw a five-figure sum of money and hand it over to officers who would be waiting nearby.

At first, the elderly woman believed the fraudsters to be genuine bank employees, but she ultimately did not fall for the scam.

Police have issued a warning to the public, after an attempted telephone scam in Midlothian.

Police are continuing their enquiries into the incident. They have warned the public to be vigilant, and asked them to remind any elderly or vulnerable people they know of the dangers of telephone scams.

Detective Constable Kerry Anne Dickson said: “Unfortunately, this time of year attracts fraudsters whose main aim is to target individuals and con them out of their cash. People can often lose significant sums of money to these criminals.

“I would like to remind everyone that your bank or the police will never ask you to transfer money to another account or to take money out of your account. The only person who can do that is you. It is your money, hold on to it. If you are suspicious in any way then please hang up and contact the police or speak to a member of your family who can assist you in making sure you are not a victim of fraud.

“I would ask family members who have elderly or vulnerable relatives to get in touch with them and make sure they are ok. Remind them that there are criminals out there who are convincing and think nothing of stealing their money and savings”

Anyone who has any information or is concerned they may have been a victim of a scam has been asked to contact Police Scotland by calling 101.

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