Warning after fraudster targets OAP

The 72-year-old took a call from a polite, well spoken man last week who told her she had an outstanding bill of £4.64 which she owed to British Telecom.

When the elderly lady told him she had never been with BT, he quickly put down the phone.

She told the Herald: “I got in touch with BT afterwards and they told me they would never call for such a small amount.

“The conman told me I should just pay the bill over the phone as it was such a small amount. He obviously wanted me to give him my bank details.

“He tried to say the bill was a long-standing one but when I stressed I had never been a customer of BT, he gave me a phone number and quickly got off the phone. The number turned out to be false.

She added: “I just want to warn other people about this. Some people may be with BT and may be worried they will get taken to court if they don’t pay. It’s a scam.”

“Diane Campbell, Director of Governance and Regulation, said: “There are countless numbers of these scams on the go, and people who receive any form of unsolicited approach via telephone, letter or email should be very wary.

“The scammers are becoming more sophisticated in terms of their approaches and local residents should be very careful not to divulge any personal information (especially banking information) when being approached in this way.”

Consumers can contact the Trading Standards Team by telephone on 0300 1234510 or at [email protected].”