Port Glasgow pensioner tricked out of £10k in bank fraud

A callous con crew duped Thomas Anderson into believing he was a victim of a fictitious scam - then arranged for a 'bank fraud official' to collect the money for 'fingerprint analysis'.

The criminal gang told the 74-year-old that a cashier at a local bank branch was under suspicion and they asked him to help catch the 'crook' by lifting £9,500 of his life savings.

Now Mr Anderson, of Rowan Court in the Port, fears he will never see his money again after falling prey to the twisted tricksters' elaborate scam.

He told the Telegraph that he and his wife Liz had saved up to pay for their last rites.

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Mr Anderson said: “We thought that £5,000 would do up our home up and the rest would bury us and now we’re left drained by these lowlifes.

“It took us so long to accumulate it and within seconds it was gone.

“I’ll never build that back up, I’m 74, how long have I got?

“I’ve started using a stick since it happened, and my health has gone right down the hill.

“My wife ended up in hospital through the stress of it.

“At the back of your mind you feel like crying sometimes. It is the money but it’s also just wondering how people can be so cruel.

“Are they so desperate to get money out of people who can’t afford it?

“We had enough money to live in a bit more comfort and to be buried and some parasite stole it.”

The retired welder had been sitting in his house on the morning of May 9 when he received a call from a woman claiming to represent his bank.

She told him that there had been two transactions on his account, which Mr Anderson said he did not recognise, and asked him if he would like to cancel them.

Mr Anderson added: “It’s the starting point that gets you, when they tell you your card has been used you think you’re talking to the bank.

“Then the guy rings up and says he’s from the fraud squad.

“I watch programmes about this and I’m always critical about how they could fall for these things, but this was different, it was sophisticated.”

The man who claimed to be from Mr Anderson’s bank’s fraud team told the pensioner that he suspected a bank cashier was behind the fictional fraud attempt.

Mr Anderson said: “They asked me to help them and being a law-abiding citizen, I told him I’d be happy to help as much as I could.

“But I helped them to help themselves to my money.”

The cruel fraudsters asked Mr Anderson to visit his bank and withdraw the cash so they could extract fingerprints from the notes, and told him how to answer the cashier’s questions to avoid arousing suspicion.

When the father-of-three arrived at the bank he was contacted by the fraudsters, who told him they were watching through the CCTV and were able to describe what clothes he had on.

After Mr Anderson had lifted the cash, he returned to his home, where a scammer going by the name of Alan soon arrived to collect the money for ‘analysis’.

But the crook never returned with the money and Mr Anderson soon realised he had been duped.

Mr Anderson contacted the police and his bank when he worked out what had happened, but fears that he will never see his money again.

He said: “There had been nearly £10,000 sitting on the table in my front room and then an hour later it was gone.

“It’s so disheartening and sickening and there’s the fact that nobody can do anything about it.

“They’ve just got away with, and I’ve got no doubt they’ll try it with somebody else.

“I’ve had highs in my life and I’ve had lows, but this is bottom of the pile.

“I’ve been stupid but the fact that there are people out there willing to prey on my stupidity and naivety is horrendous.

“We just wanted to do the place up and live out the years we had left, but now our plans are shot to bits.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Police Scotland received a report of a fraud type incident which occurred on 9 May 2023 in the Port Glasgow area.

"Enquiries are ongoing."