£750,000 stolen in active Tayside phone bank scam

Authorities said members of the public have been duped into emptying the entire contents of their bank accounts by criminals claiming to be members of a bank’s fraud team.

The scammers claimed that accounts had been compromised and encourage people to move their money to a fake account.

Police have advised that anyone suspicious of a caller should hang up immediately if they were suspicious of a call.

People who fell victim to the fraud once were repeatedly targeted by the scammers, who remained in contact until their victim’s bank account was empty.

The issue has prompted banks to caution that they would never contact a customer directly and urge them to move their money to a different account.

Det Insp Iain McPhail, of Police Scotland’s economic crime and financial investigation unit, said: “I would like to remind the public, if fraud has been committed on your account, banks will never contact you direct and ask you to transfer money to another account.

“If they do, hang up immediately.

“If you are suspicious contact the bank on the correct number you have for them and do it on a telephone separate to the one that the initial call was received.

“The bank will never ask about personal information and assets held at other financial organisations.”