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A woman says her life has been ruined after a fake Royal Mail scam drained her bank account of £2,500.
The 21-year-old from the Horfield area of Bristol says the scammers maxed out her credit card and blocked her from regaining access.
And it all began with a convincing-looking email that asked for £2 for a package, Bristol Live reports.
Now Lloyds Banking Group has issued a warning to others after the incident.
She said: “They completely cleared me out.”
“It doesn’t matter if there was £100 or more – I was left with nothing,” she added.
“They have maxed out my credit card, which is going to affect my credit score.”
The incident happened on Friday, November 13 when the victim – who does not want to be named – received an email claiming to be from Royal Mail.
It asked her to pay £2 for a package to be redelivered – and, because she thought it looked legitimate, she paid the money.
However, a few days later, she received a news report from her mum about a ‘Royal Mail’ scam – and immediately contacted her bank to cancel her card.
Later that evening, she said she received a call back from a telephone number claiming to be a member of the fraud team – who informed her that £1,500 had been withdrawn from her account.
“They told me to transfer all of my money to a safe account so I told them that I didn’t trust this and that I was going to ring my bank as I’ve cancelled my card,” she said.
However, she said she was quickly made to feel that it was indeed Lloyds Bank.
And after checking the back of her card, she noticed the unknown number matched that of the bank.
However, it was all part of the con.
“They told me to transfer all of my savings to my normal account and then transfer everything that I had into what I thought was a safe account – including an £800 overdraft,” she said.
“They were even sending me text messages from Lloyds Bank, so I trusted it.
“I was caught in a moment of weakness and they completely cleared me out.”
She said she was even locked her out of her account by the scammers – and told to wait 24 hours before she could access it.
Eventually she realised something was up – and the actual bank then confirmed her worst fears.
The 21 year-old student said: “They [the scammers] were very persistent and rang me three to four times and just wouldn’t leave me alone.”
Several days have now passed and she has yet to regain access to her account.
She said: “It’s a bit naive of me to be that trusting with someone.
“It has completely ruined my life.
“I was left in my overdraft – they maxed out everything.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do financially – I was completely floored.
“I’m 21, I’m young and I don’t have that much savings.”
She is also worried how badly the incident could have affected people in a more financially vulnerable position.
“If this affected a family, it could have done more damage to them than me,” she said.
She now wants to warn others to be aware of scammers.
“Always trust your gut and never give any details through an email if you don’t trust it – speak to your bank instead,” she said.
A spokesman for Lloyds Banking Group said: “Helping keep our customers’ money safe is our priority and we have a 24/7 team behind the scenes using cutting-edge technology to fight against fraud. We have a great deal of sympathy for the victim of a scam and we fully investigate each individual case.
“Fraudsters are using every trick they can to catch people with their guard down and it’s easy for them to disguise themselves using fake emails as companies, organisations and service providers that people recognise and trust.
“Scammers are ready to disappear as soon as they’ve got their hands on your cash, so it’s more important than ever to treat every email, message and call that you’re not expecting with caution.
“Your bank will never contact you out of the blue and rush you to make a payment or ask you to move money to another account – even if the phone number looks like it’s calling from the bank. The best thing to do is hang up and ring your bank back later on the number on the back of your card, ideally from a different device as fraudsters can keep the line open.
“Even if you think you know the sender, don’t reply to a text or email message if it seems odd and never enter your personal information. If you’re not sure, phone the company on a number you trust or visit its website by typing the web address directly into the address bar at the top of your screen.”
