Friends parents scammed. Thoughts?

[opps]

I recently did some work for an elderly family friend. She doesn't do online banking. I would escort her to the bank whenever I needed paying (it was on my way to the pub). The staff knew her and would ask why she wanted to transfer money to my account. She explained that I was decorating for her. Once they could see that she had now paid me £4k they said "oh, you are still having your house decorated", she replied that I was doing the whole house.

Whilst I am glad that they were looking out for her, I did feel like they potentially looked at me as someone willing to rip off old people.

 

[motorbiking]

I recently did some work for an elderly family friend. She doesn't do online banking. I would escort her to the bank whenever I needed paying (it was on my way to the pub). The staff knew her and would ask why she wanted to transfer money to my account. She explained that I was decorating for her. Once they could see that she had now paid me £4k they said "oh, you are still having your house decorated", she replied that I was doing the whole house.

Whilst I am glad that they were looking out for her, I did feel like they potentially looked at me as someone willing to rip off old people.

they were probably just checking you were covered in paint.

 

[opps]

they were probably just checking you were covered in paint.

Unfortunately, I am the cleanest decorator I know.

A few years ago I left work and walked past another customer's house. They had asked me to repaint the exterior but because I was busy, they got someone else to do it. Whilst walking past, I paused (on the pavement) for about 30 seconds to look at the work. I then wended my way down the road.

A MPV pulled up and a guy jumped out. As soon as I saw the walkie talkie in his hand I guessed that he was old bill. He asked me why I was looking at the house. I explained that they are my customers (I told him their names), and that as a decorator, I was looking out out "professional curiosity".

He looked me up and down. No paint on my trousers, coat or hands. I pointed to my boots, he could see a few pin pricks of paint. He nodded and drove off.

 

[Mottie]

The 25K might be hard to recover, the £120k loan, sounds like the bank made an error. KYC rules appear to have not been followed. You commit fraud if you take out a joint loan without the other person's permission.

A minor update. Spoke to my mate today and the £23k (not £25k as I first heard) was stopped and returned. The loan they are still looking into. Apparently it was two £50k loans - one in his name and one in his wife’s - and she wasn’t even present! They had also given him a list of answers he was to give to questions they may ask him along with invoices totalling £123k to 'prove' what the money was for. I’m pretty hopeful he will get a result on that. What’s really worrying is that someone of that age tricked out of that amount of money could quite easily top themselves. What rotten, horrible ****s some people are.

 

[MNW67]

A minor update. Spoke to my mate today and the £23k (not £25k as I first heard) was stopped and returned. The loan they are still looking into. Apparently it was two £50k loans - one in his name and one in his wife’s - and she wasn’t even present! They had also given him a list of answers he was to give to questions they may ask him along with invoices totalling £123k to 'prove' what the money was for. I’m pretty hopeful he will get a result on that. What’s really worrying is that someone of that age tricked out of that amount of money could quite easily top themselves. What rotten, horrible ****s some people are.

What did he do with the money from the loans. Was that also transferred to the "special" account.

 

[Mottie]

What did he do with the money from the loans. Was that also transferred to the "special" account.

From what I understand, the monies were paid to the company account(s) as stated on the 'invoices'. He was told to tell the bank that the invoices were from a relative that had a building company who had done/was doing building work for him. I didn’t ask whether he paid them online or the bank transferred the money for him. He really thought he was helping Barclays Bank to catch some internal crooks and was told that all the monies were being paid into a 'safe' account set up by the fraud department and he wouldn’t be liable. I know it sounds far fetched but he is a very trusting old fella.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

Scammers, complete and utter scum.

 

[Vinty]

Just heard something that’s made me feel quite sick. I heard it third hand but basically a friends dad - treasurer of the church and something to do with guide dogs, a very well meaning and trusting chap, had a phone call telling him that the bank, Barclays were trying to catch an internal thief. They got him to take £25k from his savings and pay it into a 'special' account which he did. They then emailed him some invoices and got him to go to his bank and apply for a £120k loan which the bank did, over the counter, in his and his wife’s name even though his wife wasn’t present. He's 87 years old and just on a pension! WTF? My mates wife is dealing with the bank and they are saying they’ll let them know whether he's liable in a couple of weeks. He is sick with worry and won’t even come out of his bedroom, he's that embarrassed and ashamed. I’ve told my mate tgat I think the bank should be liable. Anyone here heard of anything similar? How did it turn out?

This has happened to quite a lot of other people.
These scammers are highly professional.
The bloke who created the World Wide Web Tim Berners Lee, his mother was a victim of a similar scam.
From AI...
Mary Berners-Lee, mother of Tim Berners-Lee, was a victim of online scams, including a courier fraud incident. At the age of 90, she lost £3,000 to fraudsters. She was targeted by a sophisticated telephone scam known as courier fraud.

Here's a more detailed explanation:

• Courier Fraud:
  In this scam, fraudsters impersonate law enforcement or bank officials, claiming the victim's card has been cloned and they need to cooperate to catch the criminals.
  
  
• The Scam:
  In Mary's case, the scammer claimed to be from the police and told her that her card had been cloned and used fraudulently. He instructed her to call the number on the back of her card to report the incident to the "National Fraud Department," but the scammer remained on the line, preventing her from reaching the actual authorities.
  
  
• Victimization:
  Even though Mary was a highly regarded mathematician and the mother of the inventor of the World Wide Web, she fell victim to the sophisticated tactics of the fraudsters.

 

[motorbiking]

From what I understand, the monies were paid to the company account(s) as stated on the 'invoices'. He was told to tell the bank that the invoices were from a relative that had a building company who had done/was doing building work for him. I didn’t ask whether he paid them online or the bank transferred the money for him. He really thought he was helping Barclays Bank to catch some internal crooks and was told that all the monies were being paid into a 'safe' account set up by the fraud department and he wouldn’t be liable. I know it sounds far fetched but he is a very trusting old fella.

Either the bank screwed up or he may be exposed to an allegation of Fraud. A half decent duty solicitor will be able to knock that one away.

 

[Mottie]

Haven’t got the full details yet but my mates wife has texted Mrs Mottie to tell her that the 2 X £50k loans have just been written off. Relief all around and a valuable lesson learned!

 

[motorbiking]

In a few months - he will need to run a credit check. But he may not care

 

[Mottie]

In a few months - he will need to run a credit check. But he may not care

At 87, living on a state pension, I don’t think he'll bother.