To ask you to beware of this scam posing as Virginmedia?

[bellaiceberg]

Happened to a relative this morning. She's been going through stress and isn't a confident internet user, so sadly became a victim.

The scammers contacted her via landline first, already knowing she had accounts with Virgin for internet and mobile. She was told there was criminal activity in the area concerning routers (??) and was asked to verify info for a security check.
Being flustered she went along with it, and of course can't understand now how she was so easily led.
Was asked to give router number/details, the was told to put the phone down and pick up her mobile. The woman 'accessed' her mobile and spent about an hour confusing her, asking her to download a security app, and asking her to read out numbers over the phone repeatedly until she was nearly crying.

Oddly, and I can't sufficiently explain this, the person managed to gain access to her mobile and take it over remotely. She told relative she could see in the room via the camera. This struck me as really weird but I'm not very well up on scams. Sadly relative supplied her with driving license details and was asked to hold up the phone in front of her face, which then took a photo of her.
She was told all of this was a security measure and would protect her router from criminals :(
I can barely process any of this, but suffice to say 10K is now gone from her bank account, thankfully managed to stop it before taking more. She has reported it to the police and fraud in London, and has been told to contact CIFAF.

It seems the criminals have bank accounts globally and this is happening a lot right now in the UK. I have no more info on it yet but would like to tell people to be aware of it for themselves and relatives.

What was really frightening for her was that later, hours after the call, she was driving to the bank with her phone switched off, and she claims the woman (scammer) began asking her to talk again and download another app, as if she still had remote control of the phone. How is this even possible? It all sounds insane to me, I just can't get my head around it.
Is this common?

BBC1 mornings programme with Rav Wilding called Scam interceptors. It makes me so angry but if you record and watch just 1 you'll have a better idea of how these b...do it

I’ve had several calls like this to my virgin landline phone.

The way to tell instantly is ask them “who would you like to speak to”. They have never known my name. They then hang up. An easy thing to tell vulnerable relatives- if anyone calls claiming to be from a utility company or similar, if genuine which is very very rare for a phone call, they’ll ask for the account holder.

I had one of these and she wanted me to download a remote access app onto my phone. She was very chatty and I asked her if she made her parents proud by working like this and is this what they wanted for their daughter.

This Virgin scam happened to a friend of mine. When she realised what they were doing and said she would hang up they said they would wipe her computer and they did. I get these calls too and tell them to write me a letter.

I feel sick to be honest, the more it sinks in.
She is lucky in the sense that she never shops online and is a bit of a technophobe so does everything in person, or else asks me to order from Amazon for her
Im relieved that her card has been stopped.

If this happened to me, oh my god it would destroy me. I only keep a few hundred in my current/debit account which is attached to my amazon, paypal, etc, but the idea is just awful.

I feel so fucking angry and upset for her, she said today that her parents (deceased) would be so ashamed of her (not true) and it crippled me.