Elderly Family member just taken to bank and lost entire life savings Help

Whatdo

Hi everyone,

Just this minute been informed that my SIL's mother has lost her entire savings. First port of call is to this forum. I do not yet know the exact details yet, but it has certainly scared all us old folk. I think this situation having been alerted is being addressed but before I offer input I thought I would ask you good folk.

All I have heard so far is that following her local branch closure in Northern Ireland.  M seems to have been provided with a lift (by person/persons unknown) to allegedly visit at least two other branches and persuaded to transfer savings funds.

 I do not have dates, who these people are, why they were even in her house etc etc. whether this was inside branch or cash machine, nor am I privy to amounts involved. Or indeed if this was supposed payment for any kind of goods or services.

 

Does this sound a vaguely familiar scenario.

I would be so grateful for any thoughts or experience

many thanks for looking

regards

p00hsticks

Unfortunately it could be any one of a number of known scams - for example, someone purporting to be a police officer or similar knocks at the door (usually of an elderly or vulnerable person living alone) , says that staff at their bank are under investigation for fraud, but they will help them to move their money to safety, but don;t alert the bank when you withdraw your money.  

Doorstep scams | Scams and fraud | Age UK
What to do if you're a victim of scams or fraud | Age UK

elsien

Without more details, it’s impossible to give any sort of advice. It could be someone she knows taking advantage, it could be one of the other scams going around. 

On this forum elderly can mean anything from 60 upwards depending on who is posting, and  being old in and of itself does not automatically mean vulnerable.

From my perspective the way to help older relatives to protect themselves is to talk to them about all the different scams going round, and to ask them to call trusted family members if there’s anything they are concerned about before they do anything unusual online or with large amounts of money.

Parent knows not to trust any calls or texts or emails allegedly from the bank, and to call them back from a different phone on a number, she has checked herself if anyone requests a call back ref fraud. 

One of the more common ones is persuading the person that they are part of a bank fraud investigation, where people are persuaded that as part of an internal investigation against staff, they can help with this by transferring their money into another account.
It really is about education and raising concerns if you do feel that older relatives are starting to lose financial capacity. 

friolento

You'd need to provide a lot more details / facts on what happened before anyone can comment further.

born_again

Police.

Although I would have expected counter staff to have questioned them, but that they are often coached by the individual's involved.

Hoenir

Obtain some real facts. Wild speculation is a waste of people's tme. 

Whatdo

Thanks for replies,

I only have a little more information.

M is 88 I believe but still lucid her two sons have had an EPoA drawn up but not yet certified,

The sum involved appears now to be substantial, and might explain why three separate visits were made but this would only account for <60 if verification was not undertaken ( clearly now not a cash machine withdrawal).

Seems a taxi was involved, and whether she was accompanied either on the journey or in(what it appears to be a branch itself).

This scenario was initiated by the announcement (not known who/how) that her account has been the subject of a hack, and she must not discuss this with absolutely anybody.

My thoughts are that once in the bank it would seem simple to verify of her account was flagged as possible unusual activity,  however that might seem obvious if you are not under threat or your frail older husband is still at home. Lest not forget they have lived through the "troubles" memories of extreme violence are still  very real.

I would assume the police are involved will clarify later.

Marching someone into a bank with a gun in your back demanding money, I guessed was a thing of the past and that banking methodology and protocol had eliminated that style of criminal behaviour. Is there a banking code of practice that addresses this kind of issue?

I have experience of someone being down a rabbit hole with an Amazon scam requiring remote access to their bank account, luckily permission to access their account was averted at the very last moment, the person was very shaken and extremely embarrassed and they were >55

We are now too scared to pick up the phone to an unknown number or even not to use the computer as we are being forced to do these days.

Thanks so much for all your thoughts

back later

Regards

7sefton

Someone I know was scammed by ‘police’ saying the local branch staff was under investigation for counterfeit notes. They were told to go in and withdraw £10k in case so they could ‘check’ the notes. 

friolento

Whatdo said:

Thanks for replies,

I only have a little more information.

M is 88 I believe but still lucid her two sons have had an EPoA drawn up but not yet certified,

The sum involved appears now to be substantial, and might explain why three separate visits were made but this would only account for <60 if verification was not undertaken ( clearly now not a cash machine withdrawal).

Seems a taxi was involved, and whether she was accompanied either on the journey or in(what it appears to be a branch itself).

This scenario was initiated by the announcement (not known who/how) that her account has been the subject of a hack, and she must not discuss this with absolutely anybody.

My thoughts are that once in the bank it would seem simple to verify of her account was flagged as possible unusual activity,  however that might seem obvious if you are not under threat or your frail older husband is still at home. Lest not forget they have lived through the "troubles" memories of extreme violence are still  very real.

I would assume the police are involved will clarify later.

Marching someone into a bank with a gun in your back demanding money, I guessed was a thing of the past and that banking methodology and protocol had eliminated that style of criminal behaviour. Is there a banking code of practice that addresses this kind of issue?

I have experience of someone being down a rabbit hole with an Amazon scam requiring remote access to their bank account, luckily permission to access their account was averted at the very last moment, the person was very shaken and extremely embarrassed and they were >55

We are now too scared to pick up the phone to an unknown number or even not to use the computer as we are being forced to do these days.

Thanks so much for all your thoughts

back later

Regards

Still no real facts, I am afraid, but lots of assumptions and speculation, such as that someone was walked into a bank with a gun in their back……..

Abbafan1972

You need to get more information before anyone can help. 

Whatdo

friolento said:

Still no real facts, I am afraid, but lots of assumptions and speculation, such as that someone was walked into a bank with a gun in their back……..

I was hoping for some of the replies received, I do not have the full facts yet, of course I would not dream of sharing those on an open forum to any tom !!!!!! or harry in case of being phised and exposing the person to a second hit. The analogy was not literal of course but to emphasise how an elderly (88) person might be feeling at that moment, a perceived threat becomes more frightening the older one gets, a point that maybe some people fail to appreciate notwithstanding the crooks who believe that old people deserve to be parted with their money.................This is a financial and emotional crime.... thankyou for your support.

born_again said:

Police.

Although I would have expected counter staff to have questioned them, but that they are often coached by the individual's involved.

I agree, even if the perpetrators were not in attendance within the bank, I would have thought that a bank would flag  someone travelling to three banks in the short space of time withdrawing/transferring large sums. This scam is not online (having receiving much publicity)  but persons who only have only used branch which closed down.

Hoenir said:

Obtain some real facts. Wild speculation is a waste of people's tme. 

thanks for your contribution... we all wish it was indeed a "speculation" that an elderly member of the family has been subjected to financial crime.... no reply required thankyou.

p00hsticks said:

Unfortunately it could be any one of a number of known scams - for example, someone purporting to be a police officer or similar knocks at the door (usually of an elderly or vulnerable person living alone) , says that staff at their bank are under investigation for fraud, but they will help them to move their money to safety, but don;t alert the bank when you withdraw your money.  

Doorstep scams | Scams and fraud | Age UK
What to do if you're a victim of scams or fraud | Age UK

Thanks for your constructive reply...... I appreciate you taking the time to reply. It will be for the police to take any action (if any) and I suspect the bank will require complex procedures and attempt to evade providing any pecuniary assistance.  I shall be investigating if any advice is available from professionals who volunteer at  Age Concern/ Citizens Advice etc  Thanks for all the links I will be passing them on

The nature of an elderly person having realised a mistake being reticent to discuss or remember the exact method of the scam.

regards

.