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‘I FEEL STUPID’
Disabled man lost £14k life savings to scammers pretending to be from Virgin Media
Glen Brandon, 31, lost the money he had saved for a new wheelchair and to go on holiday after being tricked by cyber fraudsters
WHEELCHAIR bound Glen Brandon lost £14,000 he’d been saving up for a wheelchair after being tricked by scammers into giving access to his computer.
The 31-year-old had been waiting for a call from his telecoms provider Virgin Media when the scammers called posing as staff from the internet provider.
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After gaining his trust, the fraudsters told Glen that they needed to take control of his computer remotely to check the internet speed.
They said the speed was too slow so he was eligible for a refund and a message about this even popped up on his computer screen.
The scammers initially took £4,000, although Glen is unsure how they first gained access to his account.
They then later phoned back and told Glen that there had been an error, and too much money had been refunded to his account, so they needed some money back.
Protect yourself from fraud
USE the following tips to protect yourself from fraudsters.
- Keep your social media accounts private – Think twice before you your share details – in particular your full date of birth, address and contacts details – all of this information can be useful to fraudsters.
- Deactivate and delete old social media profiles – Keep track of your digital footprint. If a profile was created 10 years ago, there may be personal information currently available for a fraudster to use that you’re are not aware of or you have forgotten about.
- Password protect your devices – Keep passwords complex by picking three random words, such as roverducklemon and add or split them with symbols, numbers and capitals.
- Install anti-virus software on your laptop and personal devices and keep it up to date – This will make it harder for fraudsters to access your data in the first place.
- Take care on public Wi-Fi– Fraudsters can hack or mimic them. If you’re using one, avoid accessing sensitive apps, such as mobile banking.
- Think about your offline information too – Always redirect your post when you move home and make sure your letter or mailbox is secure.
At this point, Glen used his card reader to transfer what he believed to be an over-payment to him to the fraudster, allowing the scammers to take an additional £10,000.
By the time Nationwide called him because of unusual activity on his account, the scammers had already drained the account they’d transferred the cash to leaving Glen with just £15.
Glen, who lives in a flat on the side of his parent’s home in Headington, Oxford, was absolutely devastated when he realised he’d been tricked into handing over cash.
He told The Sun Online: “I had received lots of calls from Virgin about mobile phones so another call from who I thought was Virgin was not a surprise.
“I was shocked when I realised what had happened and felt stupid for falling for it.
“They kept zooming in and out of the screen with lots of windows open so I couldn’t really see what was happening."
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But Glen isn’t alone. Almost £1million a day is lost to scammers, according to data released last month.
The Sun has previously reported how a grandmother had her £40,000 life savings stolen by scammers pretending to be NatWest, while a gardener lost £10k when fraudsters pretended to be from HMRC.
A new code of practice to help refund innocent victims of payment fraud was announced last month, but it’s still unclear who will be responsible for the repayments when the banks are not at fault.
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More on scams and fraud
A spokesperson for Nationwide said: "Nationwide sympathises with the situation Mr Brandon finds himself in, but no error has been made by the Society as he authorised the payments when he gave the unique codes generated by his card reader to the fraudster.
"Nationwide takes the protection of its members money seriously and is always seeking to educate them on fraud and scams.”
A Virgin Media spokesperson said: “Virgin Media takes the security of its customers very seriously and we’re very sorry to hear about Mr Brandon’s experience.
"Like many organisations and banks, we will never call our customers and ask for account or bank details – if any of our customers receive suspicious calls we urge them not to give any details, disconnect the call and report the incident to Action Fraud immediately.”
Determined to help her son recoup at least some of his lost life-savings, Glen’s mum Lorraine, 60, has now set up a .
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