Bathgate woman nearly scammed

Nov 17 2011 by Allan Valente, West Lothian Courier

A BATHGATE woman has issued a warning to people in the town to be on their guard after nearly being scammed over the phone.

Lanna McDonald, who runs Lanna’s Tea Room in the town, received a phone call from someone pretending to be from British Gas nearly two weeks ago telling her she was due cash back on bills she had paid months before.

Lanna had been a customer of British Gas but left in March this year.

She was told by the bogus caller that the company was carrying out a six-month check-up and that she was entitled to cash back.

She said: “I got a call saying I was due a refund as they were doing a recount on accounts.

“The woman who phoned me said her name was Naha and she spoke with a foreign accent.

“She told me to give her my credit card details and she would place £180 in my account within the next two hours and she would then phone me back. She said that £110 would also be deposited into my account the following week.

“I said that she should have had my bank details on file as I used direct debit beforehand when I was with the company.”

Despite suspicions about the caller, Lanna handed over some of her card details.

She added: “She asked me for the valid from, expiry date and sort code numbers on my card. I’ve been told I’m lucky I didn’t give her my account number.

“When I hung up I started to panic and ran round to my bank and they told me I had been scammed.”

Lanna immediately made changes to her account to prevent any money coming out without her knowledge.

She was soon made aware that shortly after she had given her details someone had tried to purchase items from Woolworths using the online service PayPal.

“They hadn’t taken money out of my account,” Lanna added. “But they had tried to purchase items online with the details.

“I got a letter through from Woolworths a few days later saying that my order for the items, which had come to £95.95, hadn’t been dispatched as my service provider had refused to put the order through. I’ve never bought anything from Woolworths in my life.

“If it had happened at night or when I was at home I would have never have been able to get to the bank and I would have lost money.

“I just wanted to highlight what had happened so other people don’t lose money.”

A spokesperson from British Gas said: “I’m sorry to hear about Ms McDonald’s situation.

“When we contact our customers it is generally for a specific purpose. We do not ask customers to confirm their bank account details as part of these calls. If customers think they are being targeted, they should end the call. If in doubt do not give bank account details over the phone.

“If you think you were contacted please telephone British Gas and we will check our records to confirm whether we have been in touch.”

Anyone who suspects they may have been targeted in a similar manner should contact Lothian and Borders Police on 0131 311 3131, or the charity Crimestoppers in confidence and complete anonymity on 0800 555 111.