Vange grandmother warns of telephone scam (From Echo)
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Vange grandmother warns of telephone scam
9:00am Thursday 18th March 2010 in
AN elderly woman is warning others to be on their guard after she was targeted by a phone scam.
Anne Emerson, 75, knew within minutes of answering the phone she wasn’t dealing with a genuine call from her electricity company.
The widow, who lives in Vange, said she first became suspicious when the male caller failed to mention which company he was from, but tried to fob her off by saying it oversaw all the electricity suppliers.
He then told her because she was such a valuable and reliable customer, he would be sending her a special device to plug into her electricity socket which would save her 40 per cent on her bill.
But before he sent her the gizmo, the caller asked if Mrs Emerson could just “remind” him of her date of birth and her bank details.
The pensioner hung-up.
The next day the grandmother-of-two phoned her son, who lives in nearby Bowers Gifford, and discovered he and his wife had had been called by the same scammer that very morning.
She has since reported the call to the police, but wants to let as many people know in case they don’t realise they are being conned.
She said: “My husband died 18 months ago and my family are very concerned about me. They are always telling me to be careful, and I am.
“But you do hear about these scams, and lots of people fall for them. I just want to make people aware about this one and try and stop somebody falling for it.”
Roger Grimwade, a spokesman for Essex Police, urged homeowners to be on their guard.
He said: “If anybody is contacted and asked to give their bank details they should be 100 per cent sure they know who they are talking to, and that the call is genuine. If they have any suspicions they should call the police.”
Comments(10)
bob7
says...
9:52am Thu 18 Mar 10
Hopefully people will start talking about this now and a few more of our senior citizens will be protected from these evil people.
essexboi1989
says...
10:04am Thu 18 Mar 10
I heard it on the grapevine
says...
10:42am Thu 18 Mar 10
Marshwalker
says...
11:05am Thu 18 Mar 10
mister strides
says...
12:23pm Thu 18 Mar 10
margrete
says...
12:51pm Thu 18 Mar 10
This description is often accompanied by the word 'vulnerable' and carries a certain stereotypical stigma with it, assuming that we're not fit to be let out alone.
Good for the lady - just shows that all of us of a certain age-group have still got all our marbles and are willing to show that not only were we not born yesterday, we can sniff out scamsters at 100 yards! This is a very encouraging story, my caveat above notwithstanding.
They must think we are all daft - give out personal and bank details to some disembodied voice on the phone? Not in a million years.
richomack360
says...
1:36pm Thu 18 Mar 10
Not even your bank will ask for your bank details - as they already know them !
If you think its phoney - chances are it is.
tttutor
says...
11:24pm Thu 18 Mar 10
tttutor
says...
11:24pm Thu 18 Mar 10
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Alert – Anne Emerson knew straight away the caller was bogus
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buttonbaggins says...
9:14am Thu 18 Mar 10
Our rule is not to give any information to anyone over the phone genuine or not unless we have called them, then at least you know who you are dealing with!
Hope these scumbags get caught quickly!