Denny man Michael Jackson victim of bank scam

A Denny man was the victim of a clever and convincing scam that left him £500 out of pocket.
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Now Michael Jackson is warning others to be on their guard as the Clydesdale Bank won’t refund him the cash he was persuaded to take from his account and put in what the fraudsters told him was a safe account.

Mr Jackson says he was suspicious and on his guard when he received a phone call that lasted for well over an hour.

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He asked lots of questions – but in the end, he was convinced by the scammers seeming to have lots of information they should not have known.

Michael Jackson  who was a victim of bank scamMichael Jackson  who was a victim of bank scam
Michael Jackson who was a victim of bank scam

The nightmare began on Saturday, April 25 when Mr Jackson received a call on his landline from someone who said they were from his bank.

They wanted to know if he had been in Portsmouth, saying it looked like his card had been used.

Mr Jackson said: “I knew I hadn’t been in Portsmouth.

“But I was careful and tried to establish whether it was genuine or not. But when I asked them questions they knew what shops I’d been in – all the transactions I’d made, gave me loads of details.

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“I ended up transferring money to my wife’s account and from there they then told me to move it to a new, level 4 secure account – they even told me I was getting £30 compensation for the hassle.

“I honestly think whoever is making the calls is an ex-employee of Clydesdale Bank or has been on the training courses. They are so accurate in what they say.”

As he was suspicious, Mr Jackson initially gave wrong password information, which the scammers used to try to get the funds.

He is angry that the bank did not notify him of the attempt.

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He said: “I bought a present for my wife earlier in the year and they texted straight away to ask if it was genuine because it was unusual. I don’t know why they don’t text you when someone tries to use your bank account.”

The next day when he tried to open the new account there was no sign of the money – and a call to the bank made him realise he’d been conned.

When he contacted Police Scotland, they traced the crime to London, so the case has now been transferred to the Metropolitan police who say enquiries are ongoing and no arrests have been made.

Mr Jackson says the incident has left him shaken and that ever since he has spent days on the phone to the bank since to sort the problem out.

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“I think I’ve spent more time talking to the bank that I have to my own family,” he said.

A spokesperson for the bank said: “While he was on the phone to the scammer, our systems show that a One Time Passcode (OTP) was sent to Mr Jackson.

“The wording on the text with the OTP advises customers NOT to disclose this number to anyone, including our bank staff.

“Despite this warning, Mr Jackson gave the code to the scammer who was masquerading as a member of our staff.

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Clydesdale Banks says that because Mr Jackson transfer the funds out of his account himself and into his wife’s NatWest account, that the couple should contact NatWest and get them to investigate the transfer to the third party.

But Mr Jackson believes there was a breach of security and the fact that the scammers had access to his bank account details makes Clydesdale responsible.

He says Clydesdale Bank has been very unhelpful and many of his direct debits went unpaid after they froze his account, leaving him with the headache of sorting it all out.

A spokesperson for the bank said: “Clydesdale Bank takes fraud very seriously and have measures in place to support our customers, including the use of the OTP.

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“As soon as Mr Jackson made us aware of the situation, a block was placed on his mobile banking app to prevent further transfers taking place and the account was frozen for several days to allow our fraud team to investigate the situation, but this has now been lifted.”

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