‘I’ve interviewed many scam victims. I didn’t expect to be one’

In his 37 years on BBC television news, Peter Levy has spoken to many victims of scams. But despite knowing all about the various tactics that fraudsters use, Levy was still tricked out of thousands of pounds.

“I thought I was bright enough to not get caught out, but this has proved that’s not the case. These people are so convincing,” he said.

Levy, 68, who presents the news programme Look North, was walking home on a cold, dark evening in February when his phone rang.

The caller said he was from the fraud department of Virgin Money, and that a number of suspicious transactions totalling £500 had been made on Levy’s Virgin currentaccount in the past hour.

“Don’t worry,” the man said; he would help Levy get his money back, and agreed to call back when Levy got back to his house in Hull 15 minutes later and could talk more freely. “He was brilliant — very friendly, charming, and reassuring,” Levy said.

He told Levy to download an app to his computer to run some checks on his account. What Levy did not know was that the app allowed another person to remotely control your device. “I’m having trouble connecting,” the man said. “Can you check that your router has a stable internet connection?”

Levy left the room to do this for less than a minute. When he came back he could see on his computer screen that his account had been drained. The scammer had also gained access to and emptied his Barclays savings account. Tens of thousands of pounds he had spent years saving for retirement was gone.

“I felt physically sick — I couldn’t believe what had just happened, and how stupid and naive I had been,” Levy said. “By then it was late evening and the bank fraud departments weren’t open. I was up all night going through everything in my head.”

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Levy had been a victim of remote banking fraud, where a criminal gains access to a victim’s bank account and takes money without their consent. Some £163 million was stolen in this way in 2022 according to the latest figures from UK Finance, an industry body. Just 12 per cent (£19.9 million) of this was recovered.

In total, victims lost £1.2 billion to fraudsters in 2022, UK Finance said.

In reality these figures could be much higher. National Trading Standards estimates that 19 million victims have lost money, but less than a third of those it surveyed reported the crime to the police or their bank. Many feel too ashamed or embarrassed to come forward.

“I can understand that. I only told one work colleague and my partner. I didn’t tell anyone else because I was embarrassed,” Levy said.

“It was difficult going to work and carrying on with the job, putting a face on even though you feel awful. Every spare moment I was on the phone to the bank. It was very difficult.”

The next morning, Levy reported the incident to Barclays and Virgin Money and they began to investigate. While he was waiting to hear back, the fraudsters applied for a loan in his name from HSBC — he only found out when the bank called to say his application had been refused.

Severalweeks later, Virgin Money refunded him the full amount taken from his account, and Barclays was able to recover the money that had been taken.

“If talking about this stops other people making the same mistakes I did and getting caught out, then it’s all been worthwhile,” Levy said.

Barclays said: “Impersonation scams are becoming more sophisticated. If you get an unexpected request from an organisation to download an app, transfer funds or hand over your pin we advise that you end the call immediately and verify the caller. No legitimate company will make an unsolicited call to request remote access to your computer or device.”

Virgin Money said: “We know that the sophistication of scams is increasing all the time, and encourage any customers who are worried to pause before taking any action, and to contact us by phone.”

How to protect yourself

If you think you have been scammed, it’s important to act quickly so your bank has a better chance of retrieving your money and can protect your account from any further fraudulent transactions.

Report what has happened to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040.

Always be suspicious of any call out of the blue, particularly if someone is claiming to be from your bank. Hang up and call the number on the back of your debit or credit card instead — ideally from a different line, because scammers have a way of staying on the line and pretending to be the bank when you call back.

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Banks will never transfer your money to a “safe” or a “holding” account. You should never feel pressured into handing over personal details or transferring your money. If you are being pressured to make a quick decision, end the call. If you don’t have access to another line, ask a family member or friend to call the line to check it rings so you know the scammer has hung up.

Ten banking firms and their subsidiaries are signed up to the voluntary Contingent Reimbursement Model (Barclays, Co-Op Bank, HSBC, M&S Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, Metro Bank, Nationwide, NatWest, Starling and Virgin Money), which means they must reimburse victims of fraud unless there are “exceptional circumstances” — for example, if the customer ignored warnings from the bank, or didn’t have a reasonable basis for believing that the person they were paying was genuine.