Police in Edinburgh are investigating after a ‘vishing’ fraud in the Ravelston area of the city this week where a woman in her late 60’s was persuaded to transfer her life savings into a fraudulent bank account.

The fraudsters called her home telephone on Monday, June 6 purporting to be from her bank, saying that someone had tried to buy a television from Argos using her bankcard.

They convinced her they were genuine bank employees by mimicking the bank’s phone number on her phone and told her to transfer a five-figure sum of money into a so-called ‘holding account’.

She went to the branch and withdrew the cash and handed it over to them when they turned up at her door at 1.30 pm on Tuesday, une 7.

Another sum of money was also transferred online into a bogus bank account.

Officers are following a number of positive lines of inquiry but would like to issue the following advice to prevent others from being targeted by these fraudsters.

Detective Inspector Arron Clinkscales said: “Anyone can fall foul of these sorts of sophisticated frauds and we want to emphasise that the fault entirely lies with the unscrupulous individuals who target older and vulnerable members of the public.

“I would also like to reassure the public that we are doing everything in our power to bring them to justice and also offer the simple preventative advice below to help people protect themselves from these criminals.”

  • Don’t give out any personal information unless you are the one who made the call and you are certain of the identity of the person you are speaking to.
  • Don’t give out your credit card or bankcard details to strangers on the telephone.
  • NEVER tell somebody your bank PIN number, even if they claim to be the bank or police. If the caller is genuine they will never ask for this information. Don’t give out information, which may infer that you live alone, are older or vulnerable.
  • Never send money to anyone who claims to have a prize for you.
  • If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Contact local trading standards – they may be able to use approved ‘call blocking’ technology.

Information about how to protect yourself from bogus callers arriving at your door is available in the Keep Safe from Doorstep Crime advice.

Anyone with information that can assist officers with their inquiries is asked to contact Police via 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.