All language subtitles for Bank.Scams.Dont.Get.Caught.Out.2023.1080p.HDTV.H264-DARKFLiX

'In the next 6O seconds,

'more than £2,000 will have been
taken from us by scammers.

'By the end of today, we'll have
lost more than £3 million.'

Scams and fraud are not just
the most commonly reported crimes

but also they're an industry
worth billions of pounds.

Now, in the UK we've become
such popular targets

that we've become known
as the fraud capital of the world.

'But together,
you and I can change all that.

'I'm Alexis Conran.

'Come with me and my team
as we dive into the world of scams.'

We've turned this old furniture
factory into our little mini HQ.

'From here, we'll investigate
the latest threats from the inside

'and show you how they work.'

Have a quick look underneath there.

That's your password?
That's my password!

'Then we'll teach you
how to spot those red flags.'

Never exclusively rely
on your transaction

being over messaging apps,
texts or emails.

'I'm also going to be on the road

'to meet ordinary people
who've been hit by scams, small...'

They messaged me saying,
"We need another £700."

'..and large.'

How much did you send?

£120,000.

Scams are ever evolving,

but there are always easy ways

to make sure your money stays safe
and you don't get caught out.

'This time,
we look at the banking app

'that was infiltrated
by criminals...'

The caller knew exactly everything.

He knew my first name,
my second name, my surname.

'..the delivery scam

'where your house
is put under surveillance...'

He's loitering outside,

has been, apparently, for a while,
waiting untill emerge.

'..and the woman tricked
out of the entire sale

'of her new Spanish home.'

The email address was
our solicitors' email address

but we weren't actually
speaking to the solicitors,

we were speaking to somebody else.

Welcome to our mini HQ
for the series.

As you can see,
everyone is working hard,

looking for those new scams,

and, in fact, most of the stories
you're going to see in this series

have come from you.

You've been getting in touch
with us in droves

on our email address
and our WhatsApp number,

and at the end of the show,

we will let you know
how you can get in touch with us

to share your stories.

'And from your emails so far,

'we're seeing how
scams are getting more creative.'

And imagine this,
imagine if you get caught in a scam

that is so convincing

that even your own bank
don't believe it's a scam.

'It sounds pretty terrifying,

'but with 93% of people in Britain
using online banking,

'it is easy to see how scammers
are trying to take advantage,

'as 24-year-old Daria
was to find out.'

'Daria from Glasgow
was in her final year

'studying games design
at university.

'Very much a grafter, she had
worked hard throughout her studies,

'ready for when she graduated.'

I started working when
I was around 16 in my first job,

I did private maths lessons
for kids when I was in high school,

I work in McDonald's,

I work in a call centre and stuff
like that, I was a hostess.

Ancl I always had some savings
cos it's just felt better.

'Daria had a savings account
with an online bank

'which allowed her to add funds
whether she was in the UK

'or from her native homeland
of Poland.'

Throughout the three years of uni,

I managed to save
just a little bit over £9,000.

'But all that was to change,

'as the money that Daria
had worked so hard for

'was about to come under attack.'

I received a phone call from someone
claiming that they are from my bank.

Ancl they told me that there had been
suspicious activity on my account

and they froze my account
so I cannot use it any more.

I was a little bit suspicious
at the beginning,

but the caller knew
exactly everything -

he knew my first name,
my second name, my surname.

'This is the beginning
of a very clever scam.

'They research their target
to convince them they're official.'

He was just so... Everything was so
convincing that I just trusted him.

He said that now I will receive
a code to unblock my account again.

'Daria was expecting to receive
a code on her phone,

'and this code would enable her
to unlock her account

'so she could use it again.

'But the code never arrived.

'Unbeknownst to her,
the failure to receive the message

'was the beginning
of an incredibly clever scam.'

So he told me
to update my phone number.

I did that and I received a message,
and I just put it in the app.

'Daria entered the code she was sent
into her banking app on her phone.

'Convinced it was now unlocked
and free to use,

'Daria thought nothing more
of the call.

'But within a few hours,

'she received
a shocking notification.'

I was actually in my kitchen,

cooking the dinner
for me and my partner,

and I got a notification on my phone

that someone just spent £9,330
in Self ridges in London.

'Daria had been duped.

'The code she had been sent
wasn't to unlock her account at all,

'it was actually used by the scammer

'to set up her debit card
on THEIR phone,

'and Daria had unwittingly
given them access.'

I went to the app, I logged in,
my account was clean,

there was practically no money left.

'The scam worked
by connecting Daria's debit card

'to a different mobile phone,

'meaning it could be used
for payments by a complete stranger.

'And worst yet,
Daria had authorised it for them

'by using the code in the text.

'In one 30-minute phone call,
Daria had lost nearly £10,000.'

It was all my hard work, like,

I spent so many hours,

I scrubbed the floor
in the restaurant for that,

I deal with the customers, I...

It was just awful
that someone just took it...

...and just decided to tap the card
and spend all of that.

I think the worst part
of it was, like,

how I was blaming myself for that.

Like, that shame at the beginning

was the worst feeling that
I had ever in my life experienced.

I called my parents
and it was just, like,

their disappointment a bit.

I felt really ashamed.

'Clearly, in this incident,
what helped the scammers

'was knowing enough information
on Daria herself

'prior to the call being made.

'And here lies the problem.'

Most scams rely on information.

And the more personalised
that information is,

the better it is for the scammers.

But how DO they get their hands
on your data?

'Well, we wanted to find out,

'not only how criminals
get their hands on it,

'but also what is freely
being put out there by ourselves

'that could be used against us?

'So we have a perfectly innocuous
city cafe as our setting

'and a van full of some
of the smartest security experts

'in their field,

'led by ethical hacker Ken Munro.'

Now all I need
are some unsuspecting volunteers.

‘I am pretending to be
Mystic Con ran,

'the world-famous psychic,

'and I am going to show off
my special powers

'of knowing everything about
complete strangers.'

Right, and then I just need
your signature.

'Before taking part
in a filmed psychic reading,

'our researcher
has asked these people

'for three basic pieces
of information

'which will be the premise
of our experiment.

'The sort of details
we hand out every day.'

Thanks for helping.

What's your name?
Andrew.

Where do you live?
Manchester.

'Unbeknown to them, Ken and his team
are listening in right behind us,

'feeding me information
into my secret earpiece.

'Everything they discover
about these people

'will be from three nuggets
of information they gave us,

'nothing more.

'But, of course,
they don't know that.'

IN EARPIECE: He is
a telecommunications engineer.

I've noticed the phones, is that...?
Is that what you do?

Do you work as a telecoms engineer,
perhaps?

Yeah.

'Freaky. right?

'Other information, including
passwords and even bank details

'could be readily available
on the dark web

'following any data breaches
from sites they may use.'

She is a student at
the University of Huddersfield.

Are you in Huddersfield University?

Are you in Huddersfield University?
How did you know?

'It's time to show off
my special powers.'

Now, where did you go to school?
Was it...

IN EARPIECE: Went to
Pine Manor College.

...Pine Manor College?

Yeah.
Yeah?

Is this freaking you out a bit?
Yes!

OK. Cos...
And... Yeah?

...that's not even on my Linkedln.

Did you ever used to work for a...

IN EARPIECE: Worked for
a company called MJ Quinn.

...a company called Mj Quinn
or something?

HE LAUGHS

Eh?

Are you from Oran in Algeria?

Studied at the
Universite d'Oran Es Senia.

I'm not really from Oran,
but close to it.

But you went to
the university there?

Oran. Es Senia University?
Oh, my God!

SHE GASPS

Did you run the marathon?

Mm. Yeah.

In Auckland?
Yeah, that's right.

IN EARPIECE:
He said thanks to a paramedic

for bringing him
back to life with a banana.

You needed a little bit of help
from a paramedic and a banana?

So you just stalked my Instagram,
that's how you found out!

THEY LAUGH

'Now, a lot of what Ken and his team
have found may be fairly frivolous,

'but remember, most scams involve
creating a profile around you.

'And everything they've discovered

'has come from these
basic contact details.

'But it's time to step it up a bit.'

IN EARPIECE: OK, we have a password.

'The team have found a password
readily available online

'following a data breach with
a popular social media platform.'

I do have one thing
that I want to show you,

and I'm not going to say this
out loud. You'll see why.

OK. But I want you
to just have a quick look.

just have a quick look
underneath there.

SHE LAUGHS

How the... How did you get that?
That's...

Don't show anyone that.
No. That's your password?

That's my password!

That's been quite easy to find out.
Yeah.

Where's your guy?
I'll tell you what's going on.

So, the moment you gave your name
and email address,

those three guys behind
that window on laptops...

Oh, no way. You buggers!

They look like they're from
Australia or something. You buggers!

Yeah, you guys,
I knew you were there.

Sorry that I surprised you.
No problem at all!

But you were great.
I was gonna ask you about my future!

THEY LAUGH

The information that you guys
were finding off the internet,

is that information
that's available to anybody?

Yep. So, pretty much
everything you saw there

is completely free access.

There are a few tools
you pay a few pounds for,

but everything is easily accessible.

What does that tell you -
because this is your business -

about the amount of information
that you can find out

about any random person
we can pick in the street here?

What it tells me is people aren't
thinking about their own privacy.

Privacy is everything,
it's what leads to fraud.

If your privacy's invaded,
they've got access, potentially,

to your bank accounts.

So think of privacy
in terms of money. OK.

'Coming up,
we meet the lady who ended up

'being put under surveillance
by scammers.'

He had been out there
for about 10 or 15 minutes

whilst the phone call was going on
with the scammer inside.

'Before the break,
here's a little quiz for you.

'According to the UK's
National Cyber Security Centre,

'in 2019, which of these
was the most overused password?

'Was it...'

'Yes, really,
one of those is correct.

'Find out which one
after the break.'

'Before the breakl asked...'

'And it was actually C - 123456,
appearing 23 million times.

'Now, if any of those
were your passwords,

'please change them, I beg you.

'Because as we saw earlier,

'it was very easy to find out
quite a lot from very little.

'Email and password details
being hacked from popular websites

'dominate the news
on an almost monthly basis.

'This is known as a data breach,
after which,

'lists of private details
are readily available online.

'But how do you know if
your password has been caught up

'in this type of hack?'

Sometimes,
through no fault of your own,

your password may have been leaked

or exposed by hackers
on the World Wide Web.

Now, there is an easy
way to find out

if your password has been leaked.

You go to a website like this one -
Have|BeenPwned.com

P-W-N-E-D.

Now, we have an email that
we can try, it's one of the team,

they don't use it any more.

So I'm going to paste it in here,
and I'm going to ask this website...

"Oh, no - pwned!" it says.

There's nine places on the internet
where this has been breached.

That means that the password
is available to hackers.

The password that's associated
with that email address.

It's really easy, it takes less
than a second, it costs nothing.

Stick your email address in there.

If your password
appears to have been pwned,

change it and change it immediately.

'Now, it's clear in the UK we do
love to do a bit of online shopping.

'In fact, in 2022, four in five
sales were done digitally.

'Understandably, that means
big business for scammers.

'Bud from South London
was unwittingly about to fall for

'a fairly new yet deceptive scam

'that uses the power of information
and our trust in deliveries.'

'Bud's scam began one day
when a courier arrived at her door.'

DOORBELL RINGS

'Not entirely unusual,
you may think,

'but she was not
expecting a parcel at all.'

I'd been playing a tennis match
and I had got back here,

and I was just having a bit of
a lie down and my door bell went.

Ancl someone said,
"Delivery for you."

So I went down and I opened the door

and a very nice-looking delivery guy
handed me a small parcel,

and inside, I found
a brand-new iPhone Pro Max.

Ancl I thought,
"Wow, who's sent this to me?"

'Good question, Bud.

'At current prices, that model
of phone is selling at around £900.

'That's a very generous gift
indeed.'

So I was curious and was just
sitting there looking at it

when my landline went.

PHONE RINGS

First of all, I didn't answer
because it said "caller withheld".

It rang again, I ignored it.

It rang again,

I think they listened
to the message on my answerphone

which gave my mobile phone number.

My mobile phone rang, no caller ID.

When Bud finally answered,
to her surprise,

it was a man claiming to be
from the courier company

checking in about the phone
that was just delivered.

Very apologetic, saying he was
from the courier company,

and that there had been
a systems error, effectively,

and what they needed to do
was come and retrieve the package

and get it to the person

to whom it should have been sent
in the first place.

So I asked how he had got my number,

and he said,
"From the BT electoral roll,"

and carried on talking.

'It's a typical scammer's trick -

'the caller was trying
to gain Bud's trust

'using information that was
fairly readily available online

'or in the phone book.'

And he said,
"Don't worry, I'll sort it out,

"I'll get someone to come
and collect it from you."

'And within ten minutes
a new courier was back.

'The whole exchange was captured on
Bud's neighbour's doorbell camera.'

I got a phone call again saying,

"I've arranged for someone
and they're right outside now."

So I said, "Oh, OK,"

and I went downstairs,
and I went outside,

and there was a guy standing there
in an orange hi-vis jacket

with a car that looked a bit
like a taxi

and he said something like,
"|'m here to pick it up."

'Bud handed over the package,

'but the next day,
she felt something wasn't right.

'When she checked
her neighbour's doorbell footage,

'it made for some chilling viewing,

'as it showed the man in the taxi

'had been outside the whole time,
waiting.'

So, he's loitering outside,
has been, apparently, for a while,

and waiting untill emerge,

and then...

So, he's walking up and down a bit.

He had been out there
for about 10 or 15 minutes,

which is whilst
the phone call was going on

with the scammer inside.

'Yep, you heard that right -

'while the phone call was going on
with the fake courier company,

'the man in the taxi
was already outside

'waiting to intercept the package
from the genuine delivery man.'

Ancl I was thinking, "Oh, my gosh,
is it going to be identity fraud?"

Cos they've got all my details,
they've got my name, my address.

I was feeling quite vulnerable
by now.

So that's when
I got really concerned.

'Bud spoke to
the mobile phone company

'and soon realised it was a scam -

'and how it had worked.'

An agreement had been set up
in my name, fraudulently,

for the scamsters to get hold
of a brand-new iPhone

without any money
changing hands at all,

but with my name and my details
having been given

as part of the agreement.

'The scam works by stealing
someone's details

'to sign up to a phone contract.

'The scammers then
intercept the delivery,

'which, in Bud's case,
was in her name,

'meaning she would've had to
foot the bill

'for a phone she gave away
to the thieves.

'Luckily,
she spotted the scam early,

'or she could have been completely
unaware of a contract in her name.'

And the wager that goes on,

that I'm in default of payment,

the more of an impact
that has on my credit rating.

Ancl it also puts up a red flag
against your name

as far as mobile phone companies
are concerned.

'The National Fraud
Investigation Bureau

'were made aware of over 300 frauds

'similar to this one
in just one month.

'And every single one of them

'could have affected
the victim's credit rating.

'So how can we protect ourselves?'

There are some simple steps
you can take

to help protect
or even fix your credit score.

First up, look -
have a look through it.

Make sure that
you recognise everything in it.

If there's something
that stands out,

then contact one of
the three agencies immediately -

that's Experian, Equifax
and TransUnion.

Let them know
what you don't recognise

and urge them
to fix it straightaway.

Next up - monitor.

There are plenty of free services

that will send you
your credit report every month

and tell you
if it's gone up or down.

That's a very, very good way
of keeping an eye on it.

And finally - protect.

You can actually put a password
on your credit score.

This means that
if a scammer is trying to

take out credit in your name,

the lender will ask them
for that password,

and if they don't have it,

well, you've just stopped a scam
in its tracks.

'Each week, I'm going to have a
little fun at the scammers' expense,

'exposing their tricks
and, ultimately,

'well, wasting their time.

'And this week, I've been
trawling social media for scams,

'the sort that pretend to offer lots
of money for very little effort.'

There's accounts who find you with
deals that are too good to be true,

or that you can win something
simply by answering a question.

'You could easily assume
they are genuine competitions,

'but in reality,

'they're just a clever technique
to steal your profile.'

And this is one such account.

We think that this account
has been taken over by scammers

because this is an account
that used to belong to someone

who one of our researchers knew
and had been in contact with.

And then all of a sudden
this account reached out to them

with this sort of bizarre offer.

You get given a riddle,

and if you answer it,
you get £1,000.

So let's see what happens.

So, here it is.

READS ALOUD

"The winner gets £1,000."

Hmm, tricky.

Ex-policeman.

Could it be his job?

Let's see, if I reply with,
"His job."

See what happens.

So, we've sent.

Do we get to win £1,000 for solving
a not-so-difficult riddle,

but a riddle nonetheless?

Shall I just say,
"Can I have £1,000 now?"

Oh, hang on.

"Send me your PayPal," she says.

Double kiss.

"Do I really get 1K?"

IIYh - II

Use some vowels!

"How quickly can you send?"

I swear to God, if this answer
doesn't have a vowel in it,

I'm gonna blow my top.

'After a bit of back and forth
about payment methods,

'she, well, the scammer is adamant
that this is a genuine deal.'

"ls this a scam?"

Reply - "Nah, it's legit."

That's the reassurance
I was hoping for.

"|t's a giveaway from my sponsor."

Ooh, she sent us a little picture.
What's that?

OK, so this is a previous...

She's sent us a screenshot
of money being paid.

So... Wow.

Forget everything I just said,
I think I'm in the money!

'OK, so I've had the sales pitch,

'what's the scammer really after?'

"Send me your phone number."

That's all.

Now, what's interesting here is that

she says that in order
for the money to be sent,

her sponsor needs
a quick verification.

But this is really key.

She says, "A verification code
will be sent via SMS

"to confirm your payment."

'And, spoiler alert,
this is how the scam works.'

This scammer is going to try
and take over our account

by using our mobile number that
is associated with this account.

And this verification code
which will be sent to us

as confirmation of payment

is actually going to be
a one-time password.

'So if we were to fill out
the forgotten password

'on a website like Facebook,
let's say,

'it would text us
a code to our mobile.'

So if she says, "Oh, did you get
the verification code?

"Let me just check, what is it?"

If we gave her that code,

then she'd have all she needs
to take over our account.

'Because once
they have access to it,

'they have a fully convincing
and functional profile,

'pictures and all,

'which they're free to use
for other scams,

'such as romance cons
and bogus sales.

'Sadly, this is exactly
what we think has happened

'to the person who owned the account
we are now being messaged from.

'But one thing's for sure...'

I'm not going to win £1,000.

'Well, I can't pretend
I'm not disappointed,

'but with so many different scams
and fraud afoot,

'which is the most likely
you would encounter?

'IS it...'

'Find out after the break,

'where we'll also meet the family

'who lost the entire cost
of their dream home to scammers.'

How much did you send?
£120,000.

'Before the break, I asked you...'

'And it's B - impersonation fraud.

'In the UK, statistics of scams
make for pretty grim reading.

'96% of fraud cases
are never solved,

'so is it any wonder so many of us
are being targeted

'by so many
different types of scams?'

The scarier scams are the ones
where one individual is targeted

and the scammers lie in wait

and can potentially be in
for a massive payday

to the tune of
hundreds of thousands of pounds.

'It's what happened to Michelle
and her family,

'and they ended up
losing nearly everything.'

'Spain, with its beautiful coast
and relaxing climate,

'it's always been
a popular destination for Brits.

'That was what appealed
to Michelle and her family,

'who set about moving there in 2020.

'Using a website connected
to a well-known TV property series,

'they purchased an apartment
for £120,000.

'Of course, this is where
the story SHOULD be starting...

'but it isn't.'
RECORD SCRATCH

'In fact, thanks to an incredibly
heartless and frightening scam,

'Michelle and her family
never made it.'

Michelle, let's start
from the beginning.

Did you do any background checks
on this website?

Yeah, we clone an awful lot
of looking into it,

into the background, to make sure...

It's very well known,
so everyone knows of it,

so it seemed quite straightforward.

'They arranged the sale
using a Spanish property solicitor

'recommended on the website.'

So, we had emails back and forth,

and we had an email
that stated the bank details

to send our money to.

How much did you send?
£120,000.

So they weren't asking
for a deposit,

they were asking
for the whole thing.

£120,000 - we were cash buyers.
OK.

We then received
an email two clays later

saying they hadn't
received any money.

'It's every house buyer's
worst nightmare.

'Somewhere along the line,
£120,000 had vanished,

'despite being paid into the account
given by the solicitors on email.'

The email address was
our solicitors' email address

but someone had hacked
into something and got our details

and we weren't actually speaking
to the solicitors on the emails,

we were speaking to somebody else.

So the email body looked identical
to your solicitors' email body?

Everything was identical.

'Somehow, the email exchange between
Michelle and the solicitors in Spain

'had been infiltrated,
so they could take it over.

'The scammer had then created

'an almost identical email
to the solicitors',

'but adding small differences
to the address

'to easily trick the human eye.

'just take a look at these two
similar emails side by side.

'It's easy to miss.

'And this is how
Friday afternoon fraud works.

'A crook will somehow find a buyer,
falsify an email address,

'and then hack a conversation
to send different bank details.'

What was going through your mind
when you were being told

none of the money's arrived?

All I can say is when you go onto
your mobile phone banking app,

imagine everything's gone
and it's zero...

Yeah.
..and you have to go home

to your family and explain to them
that everything's gone.

There's nothing.

All the emotions,
from not wanting to get out of bed,

grying, to angry.

You're just going through
everything.

'Friday afternoon fraud
is given this name

'because it usually happens
on a Friday

'as it allows the scammer
to escape immediate investigation,

'with victims sometimes
not realising they've been conned

'until the following Monday.

'As no-one knows how
the email exchange was hacked,

'so far, Michelle's bank
and solicitors

'have taken no responsibility
for the scam.'

How are you coping?

120 grand to be lost,
that's a lot of money.

If I spoke to you
maybe a year and a half ago,

I probably wouldn't have been able
to finish a sentence.

Right.

I just want an answer from the bank,
how they can send my money

to an account
that was not a 100% match.

I want to know
what they're going to do about it.

Ancl after that, I don't know,

I'm just gonna have to try
and find some other companies

and avenues to go down.

I'll keep trying.
I'm not gonna go quiet.

'Many banks have signed up to
the Contingent Reimbursement Model,

'or CRM, designed to help people
recover money lost to fraud.

'However, it only applies to
payments sent to and from UK banks,

'which doesn't help Michelle.

'Jodie Parman is from Refundee -

'an organisation that
fights for consumers

'when they've been
refused compensation after a scam.'

Let's look at one of the most
confusing parts, I think,

that people find themselves in,

which is getting reimbursed after
they've lost money to a scammer.

Some people get reimbursed
straightaway,

some people don't get reimbursed
at all.

There's a whole lot of confusion,
isn't there?

Yeah, there are times,
unfortunately,

when customers have fallen to a scam

and there isn't any way
that they can get their money back.

There's a few routes that they can
get their money back.

One is through the CRM Code.
Mm-hm.

That only applies
to UK bank transfers,

so if it falls
out of that parameter,

then, unfortunately,
it's a little bit more difficult

for people to get their money back.

So, if I sent money
from a UK bank to another UK bank,

that is easier to retrieve

than if I sent money
from my UK bank to a bank abroad?

Yeah, so there's a couple
of reasons for that.

The first one
is the actual recovery of money.

So, banks will try
and recover the money

from the bank account
that it's gone to.

Often, scammers
are very clever with that,

they move the money out
straightaway.

The other side of it is that
the scam has to be convincing.

The scam has to be convincing?

Yeah. So, probably the most common
excuse that we see,

in terms of being refused a refund
under the CRM Code,

would normally be that they didn't
do enough checks on the company.

Ancl I think the banks think that
because they've said that,

the customers will just go away and
they won't do anything to pursue it,

when, actually, if they go down
the route of complaining

and going to
the Financial Ombudsman,

they are very likely
to get their money back.

'It certainly feels like
a minefield,

'and with so many scams out there,
we must all do our bit

'to be cautious and report them.

'But where is the most common place
to find a scam?

'IS it...'

'Find out after this short break,

'when we'll see how scammers can
switch off your security cameras.'

Switch this on,
everything will be dead?

Yep, nothing wireless,
nothing at all.

'Before the break, we asked...'

'Of course, it's on email.

One thing scammers
are really good at

is changing up their tactics.

They always like to
keep up with technology,

new platforms and news trends.

But there are some scams out there
that are so successful,

the scammers keep using them
over and over and over again

because they work.

'The mum and dad scam is still
a very effective method

'of fraudulently taking money
from unsuspecting people.

'There have been hundreds of reports
of this scam already in 2023.

'It works by crooks sending
unsolicited text messages

'to random people,

'pretending to be a child
in trouble, needing money,

'as Judith from Somerset
was to find out.'

'At the time,
Judith didn't find the message

'out of the ordinary at all.'

Tell me about
the first message you received.

The first message I received
just said something like,

"Hi, Mum, my phone is damaged,
water damage,

"dropped it in the sink,"
something like that.

What was your first response?

My first response was I said,
"Who are you?"

Yeah.
Ancl she said, "The eldest."

Clever.
Very clever.

And she said,
"Mum, this is really urgent.

"I need some money
before Wednesday."

"I'll pay you back Wednesday."

'In a cruel twist,

'judith's daughter had recently
suffered a bereavement

'when her husband died suddenly.

'It made the message seem
that much more convincing.'

Did it go through your mind at all
to check, maybe, with the old number

and see if the old one
was still working?

Not at all, because I believed
it had been damaged in the sink!

'This is a textbook scammer's trick,

'keeping you off the phone
with various excuses

'as to why they cannot
talk in person.

'Judith did ask the right questions

'and suggested she called
her daughter to discuss it,

'but the person pretending
to be her daughter

'was full of good excuses as to why
she couldn't take the call.'

Then it's like, you're saying,

"Lovely to do something
simple for you."

Yeah. You're making me cry now.

Sorry, Judith. Sorry.

But do you know what? Again...

You know, for me, I know you feel
a bit silly about all this,

but for me, I see...

...the milk of human kindness.
I do love her.

And there's some
horrific human being

who's basically taking advantage

of a mother's instinct
to help her daughter.

Ancl a daughter who was having
a bloody lousy time.

Exactly.

'Judith is not alone.

'Data shows that, in 2023,
this scam cost victims

'upwards of £460,000.

'In fact, unsolicited scam texts
on apps like WhatsApp

'have risen a whopping 300%.'

So what happened when you contacted
your bank to send the money?

When I put the details in,
the bank came back

saying that the name didn't match
with the account number.

Ancl so I then went back
to her again saying,

"The bank is concerned about this,
they're not the right things."

But the scammer reassured me
that it was fine.

You have quite a sort of jokey
sort of exchange where you said,

"Prove to me that
you're my daughter."

If you like, my heart
was ruling my head at that point.

My head is thinking,
"This is a bit odd."

But my heart was saying,

"Ask your own daughter to prove
she's your daughter?" You know?

'Despite her reservations,

'Judith convinced herself
it was her eldest daughter

'and sent nearly £2,000

'to a bank account
under the name of Rhys.'

When did the penny drop?

Well, I think it was when we had
this nice little conversation

where she said, "Thank you,
I do appreciate it," etc, etc,

I think she said, "I love you, Mum."
Mm-hm.

Ancl I felt very warmed
and appreciated and so on.

'This is another scammer's trick -

'and probably
the most callous of them all-

'using emotion to convince you
to part with even more money.'

And then she says,

"And nowl need 1,400
and something or other."

Ancl I just started thinking,
"What's going on?"

And did you call your real daughter?

Yes.
And of course she was saying...

She said, "What are you on about?
I'm fine."

At the time, I felt
absolutely pathetic, I would say.

I felt, "I really am an old lady."

I don't go around feeling
I'm an old lady most of the time.

I didn't want to tell anybody.
But you weren't stupid.

They're just very good at their job.
Yes.

'It's clear that social media
and communication apps

'are rich pickings for scammers.'

80% of all fraud carried out
in the UK is committed online.

But what about the other 20%,
physical fraud?

Are we doing enough
to make sure we're staying safe?

'A recent study shows that we are.

'Well, sort of.

'One in five home owners now have
an internet camera doorbell.

'As we saw earlier,
they helped catch a courier scammer,

'and they've been known
to catch car criminals

'and burglars in the act.

'But are these cameras the solution
that we think they are?'

And, luckily, I know the man to ask.

'I'm going to catch up
with ethical hacker

'and tech expert Mike Godfrey,

'who happens to have one of the most
popular brands of home security.

'But to be clear,
what he's about to show me

'can affect every brand
of internet-enabled doorbell

'on the market.'

Why are we stood outside your house?

I have a feeling
you're going to tell me

by showing me what on earth
that is attached to your hand.

So, here we have
a broad-rangejammer.

So, this will jam Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,
car keys, everything.

Ancl where these obviously
rely on Wi-Fi,

as soon as we turn this on,

we lose all functionality
from any video doorbell.

So, something like this
basically knocks out

any wireless communication?
Anything, yeah.

‘Now, I know what you're thinking,
this is all a bit James Bond.

'Although these gadgets
are not illegal to own,

'they are illegal to use

'because of the interference
the tech can cause.'

I know it's kind of naughty,

but can we kind of have
a brief look at how it works?

Like, can we see this working

and then what happens
when you turn this on?

Of course we can.

'Mike is using
the lowest power setting

'which he has downgraded
to a five-metre radius.

'This means it will only affect
his own personal devices.

'At maximum power,

'these gadgets can knock out
devices 25 metres away.'

Mike is gonna get into position

and we're gonna see him
on the video doorbell here.

So, there he is.

Now, when I give him the word go,

he's gonna flick a switch
on thatjammer

and then we'll see what happens.

Mike, are you ready?
I'm ready.

OK, give us a wave
so we can see the live picture.

When you're ready
just flick that switch

and we'll see what happens.

Are you still waving?

He's waving,
and now he's completely frozen.

There's nothing there at all.

The Wi-Fi's gone.

That is insane.

That is absolutely insane.
Everything went dead.

That's crazy!

Yeah, it's super effective
for this type of crime, definitely.

'It's estimated there could be
upward of 450 uses of jamming

'in the UK every day.

'In 2022, 130,000 cars
were stolen in Britain,

'so the ease of this experiment
is quite shocking,

'but important to highlight.'

So, they turn this on
when they're out of sight,

you can get them ranging
from 5-100 metres, or even more,

and as soon as they approach
your property,

this will pick up nothing,
nothing at all.

So, your lovely car,
if I've got my eye on it,

I could come here, switch this on,

you won't get a notification
that someone's at your door,

I can get in, none of your cameras
will pick me up,

motion detector, nothing.

Nope, nothing wireless.
Nothing at all.

'Within seconds,
the Wi-Fi signal was gone,

'meaning a video doorbell or CCTV

'that relied on an
internet connection would be dead.

'But there ARE ways
that we can protect ourselves.'

Anything wireless is susceptible
to this type of attack,

so wiring things in.

You can get some quite inexpensive
wired video cameras,

surveillance cameras,
alarm systems, etc.

That stops this attack completely.

Back to old school.

That's it.
Old school.

Old school works, folks.
That's the key.

'And what of the rest of the people

'who have been caught up by scams
in this episode?

'Well, it's been something
of a mixed bag of results.'

Now, Bud had a narrow escape,
she didn't actually lose any money,

and, thankfully, her credit score
wasn't affected either.

However, having been a victim
of identity theft,

she needs to be wary

that her name is not gonna be used
in other scams.

Daria, unfortunately,

is still out of pocket
to the tune of £10,000.

She's still fighting her case,
hopeful that, at some point,

she will be reimbursed
for her losses.

Judith did eventually
get her money back,

but she still feels aggrieved,
like many victims of scams do,

at the lack of empathy shown to her,
not only by her bank,

but also by the police.

'Sadly for Michelle, the battles
with her bank and solicitors go on.

'Currently, she remains
£120,000 out of pocket

'and is taking the case
to the Financial Ombudsman.

'Next time,
a woman loses her life savings

'to a callous scammer...'

Did you get any of it back?
No.

'..the scam that locks you out
of your smart phone

'and steals your money...'

I tried to disconnect my phone
and I couldn't.

They'd taken over my handset.

'..and I take some tips
from a romance scammer's playbook.'

This section is called
"Dream you had for her.

"Sex dream..."
It's quite explicit.

It starts... My goodness. OK.

'Have you been scammed?
Do you have a tip for us?

'Then go to...

'..and get in touch.'