Canterbury 85-year-old Florence* has spoken out about her experience with a scammer which has left her distrusting people and struggling to sleep.
The Ashburton woman hopes her story will prevent others from falling victim to the same scam that nearly cost her.
It started with an early evening telephone call to her landline, supposedly from the bank.
The person told Florence he was David Williams from her bank, calling in regards to hundreds of dollars of withdrawals made on her Visa card to two individuals in the United States.
He wanted to check her details were correct as the bank believed she had been scammed.
"When they told me not to tell anyone about the phone call that should have alerted me," she said.
"They are very, very clever, they are plausible and unscrupulous."
She was informed that ‘Nicholas’ from the security department would phone her back and she was only to talk to him.
She spent three hours on the call, during which time her children phoned.
She told them she could not speak as she was busy.
She told her daughter the bank thought she was being scammed, but it was okay as a man was remotely working on her computer to sort things.
"I told the man: ‘I didn’t know that I should be talking to him, so I would ring him back'."
He gave her an 0800 number to call and said they had to be quick as they only had 24 hours to act in situations like this.
She was asked if she had a computer.
"Yes I do, but I am not very good with it," she said.
He said he would talk her through what they needed to do.
"The caller frequently used the word ‘fraud’ and their rhetoric was very convincing," Florence said.
He wanted to set up a time to call back the next day, but she said she had a family function to attend.
So she was told to go to Woolworths and purchase a $1000 Apple gift voucher.
The cost would be reimbursed. The caller said staff at Woolworths would query the voucher.
"Because you are going to the family event you can tell them it’s for your family member," he said.
He said he would ring back at 9pm that night which he did.
Once at Woolworths, and after asking for a voucher without stating an amount, a senior staff member said they did not have any vouchers as they had been withdrawn due to scams.
By the next day her daughter had frozen her bank accounts.
Despite her family telling her they were trying to scam her, the woman still did not believe it.
"I couldn't believe that I was nearly scammed as I know about scamming.
"I had read James Meager’s article about scamming in The Ashburton Courier only days earlier," she said.
She went to her bank to ensure her accounts were safe.
Her bank said they can see up to 10 people a week who were scammed or came close to being scammed.
The bank encouraged her to talk about her story to help alert others to the possibility of being scammed.
But this time, fortunately, no money had been taken, though her computer had been hacked.
Incredulously, 'Nicholas' rang at the arranged time that day. She told him the bank had been contacted then hung up.
Lesley Symington, co-ordinator for Safe Communities, said they have partnered with Ashburton District Neighbourhood Support, Ashburton Library, Ashburton SeniorNet and Mid Canterbury Citizens Advice Bureau to update and re-release a flyer with information about scams for the community.
"We are aware that many people are ashamed about being scammed and also don’t know where to go for help and advice. There is also a lot of varied and confusing information out there," Symington said.
The flyer has basic information on how to know if you have been or are being scammed, tips on how to protect yourself, where to go for advice and support, and where to report a scam.
- Being scammed or feeling like someone has tried to scam you can be unsettling. In Mid Canterbury support and advice about scamming is available from Mid Canterbury Citizens Advice Bureau phone 928 8761 or Ashburton District Neighbourhood Support ph 308 3558. For help with regards to scamming go to Ashburton library 308 7192 or Ashburton SeniorNet at ashburton@seniornet.nz. Copies of the resource booklet The Little Black Book of Scams are available from Community House, 44 Cass St or Ashburton library.
*Florence is not her real name to protect her identity
