Mum been victim of a phone scam

Hope the bank refund the money OP.

I strongly advise looking into financial POA too. My DM was scammed out of 11k last year in a romance fraud. The case is going to court and we're hoping the perpetrators are found guilty. We've got the POA in case it's needed in the future, but in the interim my DB has access to mum's bank accounts and makes sure all is above board. Could you do that at least?

Hope you get it sorted though. What a worry.

OP my mum gets regular calls saying "your internet has been compromised - press 1 to speak to someone" or something.

she hangs up, but I think what happens if you press it is that they talk through getting access to your computer. Is that what happened to your mum?

I'm crossing fingers & toes that you get a refund.
Prior to my taking control of her finances via a power of attorney, my mother was scammed out of £1.6k by some 'builders'. She had early dementia but presented well. You wouldn't have thought she was ill. She certainly didn't.
Throughout the process she refused to listen to me & when these 'builders' drove her to the bank to do a bank transfer, she didn't see anything wrong with it....
The bank wouldn't pay her back despite the dementia diagnosis. We got a reference number from the police. And that was that.

It did however give me leverage over her as she was embarrassed - after all 'she wasn't ill & perfectly capable of looking after herself'. I repeatedly pointed out that this was no longer true until she relented.
The power of attorney (previously registered) was put into action. Anything financial was to be dealt with me alone. I closed the bank account & opened a new one so no-one had her details. She had an account with no overdraft & she had a bank card - money was put in there each month for her day-to-day things.

If you haven't got a financial power of attorney registered, do so - it doesn't have to be used yet but may be needed in the future.
For the meantime, maybe add your name to her bank accounts so you can easily keep an eye on them using online banking?
Move most of the money out of her current account into a savings account. Close her current account & open a new one - might be a bit of a hassle with direct debits but worth it - for all her incoming funds.
Set up a 'mini' current account with a bank card & no overdraft for her to use for day-to-day stuff. A specific amount from her main current account can be transferred by standing order each month.
And set up a call screening service - a friend has one & I have to say my name before I get connected.

I truly hope you get her money back.

The bank should refund. Whilst your mother likely sent the money of her own free will she was still scammed.

CIFAS isn’t going to help in this situation unless they are making credit applications in her name.

I see someone else mention power of attorney and I also would recommend you get this set up in case this is an early sign of dementia.

Can you put a sticker on the phone with a reminder to be careful with people or numbers she doesn’t know?

I can't help be like £8k, omg I could have paid off my credit card with that!

We have similar to this

www.amazon.co.uk/BT-Cordless-Nuisance-Blocking-Answering-Black/dp/B0787G3VRQ/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=bt+call+guardian+phone&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1551421814&sr=8-3

You can set it so every number other than those you dictate is blocked. May be worth thinking about.

I agree with a PP though. My bank (Lloyd’s) blocks unusual transactions for much lower amounts than that and I have to approve them. I’d be speaking to them to query how this one got through.

I think I agree with Solasum. The best thing to do is to change her number (if it's not important enough, of course). Does she lives on her own? Does she familiar with internet? I think you can also tell her to check every unfamiliar number on Google or some sites like whycall.me and let her see if the number has some reports/complaints. Then just ask her to block the number. One more thing, ask her not to be shame to talk about this kind of scam. They are very dangerous and I think people should know about this.

Barclays have been giving me some advice on a similar situation. They recommend keeping the balance in the current account at a minimum. They also suggested not having a debit card at all. With online banking, transfers can be done for most payments, and you can get cash over the counter without a debit card, or get cash out yourself to give her, and do a transfer from her account to yours.

Alternatively, if you do online banking and download the app onto your phone, you can switch her card on and off.

If she is with BT they have call protect where you can only allow certain numbers to get through. You can even set times for calls to get through.

This time they have managed to take around £8k.

How is this possible?!

My bank immediately contact me if they find an irregular transaction. even if I had nowhere near that amount of money in my account

Not in UK though.

When I get a scam telephone, I pick up (cos I don't know who's calling) and if no-one I know with weird talk about my internet or whatever, I leave the phone off the hook and walk into the kitchen. Gets rid of them.

But it sounds like your mum is vulnerable. Can you take it up with her bank?

Maybe look into POA? We had to do it for my mum as her Alzheimers got worse....

So sorry you're going through this.

This happened to my mum but they only got £300 as she realised what she'd done and stopped it.

She has £10k in her account but will not listen to me that she needs to keep it under £1k. She's in her 70's and there is no convincing her.

Don't get me started with what she's like with Facebook! She puts personal messages on people's walls and thinks they are private! 😊

Have a look into CIFAS. I don't know much about it other than it's a scheme to help protect people from fraud. I believe you register (your mum) with them and this forces financial institutions to do additional due diligence.

CPR Protect Landline Call Blocker - Block All Incoming Calls - Remote Program Trusted Phone Numbers - Designed To Safeguard Vulnerable Adults - Protect Dementia Alzheimer Sufferers From Scam Calls www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LL9H0FM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_vZhECb157S5NZ?tag=mumsnetforum-21

I can’t find the actual phone but this is similar to what we have .

You can get call screening phones that you put numbers into and only calls from those numbers will be put through.

We have one for my nan as the same thing kept happening.

It’s working so far - we have programmed in relatives numbers and the doctor etc you just have to let them know not to call from a with held number or it will automatically block it- they just get a dead tone when trying to call.

When my dad has this they used an app for taking over the mouse and directed him on moving the money. Luckily there came a point (after 2 hours) when he said he'd just go down to the branch for help (I think he was unsure by then) and did literally go drive to the branch and they sorted it out with no loss of money. It was such a close shave!

Can't offer advice on avoiding it again, but we just keep emphasising no one should ask you to turn computer on.

Once her phone number is on a list it will be sold on. When I was clearing my mothers flat it, the phone was ringing regularly with people trying to flog insurances and all sorts of stuff.

I have the Tshirt on this. I suggest a small account for everyday stuff, something like a Tesco savings account, which does not allow overdrafts or direct debits but which does provide a debit card. My mum has one that I can top up using a phone app should she need more money. Its a bit like the accounts DC had when they were teenagers.

The main account should then be hidden away so she really wont know details should anyone call. Could statements go to you? Could she give you third party access and you do the internet banking?

Also get the bank to give a list of DDs and SOs. My mother had loads because of people phoning up and her giving out her bank details. In the end the easiest way to cancel them was to close that account and open another.

In retrospect these priblems, and hoarding, were the first signs of dementia. I hope that is not so with your mum.

Could you go in with her and ask whether a low transfer limit could be put on? Low enough to pay bills but not enough for the scammers.