Adlington pensioner, 81, almost cheated out of £2,500

An 81-year-old woman from Adlington narrowly missed being tricked out of almost £2,500 by a scammer.
Barbara Lowe, 81, from Adlington narrowly missed being tricked out of almost £2,500 by a scammer.
Barbara is pictured with her son Neil Cooper (left) and Carolyn Cooper (right)Barbara Lowe, 81, from Adlington narrowly missed being tricked out of almost £2,500 by a scammer.
Barbara is pictured with her son Neil Cooper (left) and Carolyn Cooper (right)
Barbara Lowe, 81, from Adlington narrowly missed being tricked out of almost £2,500 by a scammer. Barbara is pictured with her son Neil Cooper (left) and Carolyn Cooper (right)

When Barbara Lowe picked up the phone to a woman claiming to be from telecommunications company Talk Talk offering her help with her router she took up the offer.

“Funnily enough I was having problems with my router,” said Barbara, explaining why the call seemed plausible. “She said we are going to give you £300 because you have been such a loyal Talk Talk customer.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The woman on the other end of the phone then told Barbara to check her online banking and make sure the payment had come through. When Barbara went into her Nationwide current account she noticed that £2,800 had been put into her account. When she relayed this information to the women however she said she had transferred too much and could Barbara transfer the surplus back.

To do this Barbara had to walk into Adlington to get the Post Office to transfer the money. Although the attendant in the Post Office was suspicious of the transaction Barbara insisted that he go ahead. However when Barbara had left the Post Office the attendants closed the shop to investigate the matter and stopped the money from going through.

Barbara’s daughter Carolyn Cooper said: “The woman on the phone had told my mum that she would lose her job with Talk Talk if she told anyone that she’d transferred the wrong amount into her account. She told her just to tell the Post Office staff that the money was going to a family friend instead.”

It transpired that the £2,800 which the so-called Talk Talk employee had transferred into Barbara’s currant account had been taken directly from her ISA.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s completely knocked me sideways,” said Barbara, after discovering that she had been hoodwinked. “She was just so polite and helpful and had a very caring and warm voice. I took her at face value, she was so genuine.”

For more about scams see http://bit.ly/1CYmyTQ