"Coventry couple scammed out of 50 years worth of savings by fake police officer"

[dutchman]

The grandparents had a total of £70,000 taken

An elderly Coventry couple who fell victim to a fraudster are still traumatised by what happened to them. The pair in their 70s were called by someone claiming to be a police officer.

They were told by the fake officer that someone had attempted to use their bank cards. They were then advised to withdraw and transfer money to a building society account to keep it "safe", say West Midlands Police.

The pair were manipulated over constant phone calls to move money over a number of weeks. The force said a courier also went to the pensioners' house five times to collect cash - the amount they were robbed of totalled in at £70,000.

The couple, who are grandparents, said they were called three or four times a day and even had someone on the phone who claimed to be from the building society. The grandfather, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the amount of money withdrawn was what him and his wife had built up over 50 years.

"It caused so much stress," he said. "Looking back you can't believe how it happened, but whoever was claiming to be a police sergeant was so convincing.

"We were also contacted by a woman who claimed to be from the building society - who was clearly part of the scam - to reassure us we were doing the right thing so that made it even more believable. I was ill in bed at the time so a lot of it fell on my wife to withdraw the money which we'd built up over 50 years."

The couple managed to get their money back after West Midlands Police worked with their bank. However, they were told they needed to buy a £13,000 Rolex to keep criminals away from accessing their savings which could not be compensated.

"If we hadn't got it back - and we're grateful to everyone who helped us do so - as we would have had to sell the house and it would have ruined our lives," the grandfather added.

His wife said: "We were told not to tell anyone else, so I even had to hide what was happening from the rest of the family which really hurt. It was quite frightening being a pensioner and walking around with thousands of pounds in cash.

"When I was first told we'd been victims of fraud I just burst into tears, and I was in tears all the time for weeks after. We had people we didn't know keep coming to our house to collect the money, it's been a really unsettling time. I wouldn't want anyone else to go through what we have."

[dutchman]

I'm not convinced this is a genuine news story as opposed to one of those "This is the kind of thing which could happen if you're not very careful" made-up examples.

[rebbonk]

Agreed