Will Mellor has detailed recent traumas, after becoming the victim of identity theft.
The 46-year-old Strictly Come Dancing and Coronation Street star said that he had become the target of organised criminals, who used his identity to set up bank accounts under his name without him knowing in a bid to launder money.
And a completely oblivious Will only started to grow suspicious after he found someone rifling through his post.
Read more: BBC Strictly's Will Mellor speaks out after breaking down in tears on It Takes Two
The Mirror reports that the actor revealed that the scammers stole his identity, a 'substantial' amount of money and said that it had been going on for 'some time'. Will, who narrowly missed out on the Strictly final last month, claims it's not the first time he's been a victim of fraud as he warned fans to be vigilant at all times.
He says it could happen to anyone and says checking bank statements as often is possible is a way to combat the crooks. Speaking to GB News, he said: “It was a nightmare. Sometimes you just don't believe it could happen to you.
“I caught somebody going through my mail and my neighbour had seen somebody and they alerted me. They said, ‘I think we've seen someone hanging on your letterbox’ and my letterbox is at the bottom of my drive. And this guy had been following the postman and intercepting my mail before I got to it.”
He continued: ”He had basically stolen my identity, opened multiple accounts in my name, bank accounts, and laundered money through those accounts. Obviously, he was intercepting the mail before I could see it so I wouldn't notice that I had these accounts open.
“This had been going on for some time and it wasn't until my neighbour spotted him and then I caught him on my CCTV camera doing it. I went out to try and confront him one day and he literally drove off and I took his picture of his number plate and reported it to the police.
“He had a substantial amount of money in several accounts in my name. I was shocked, I must admit.”
Will said he has been the victim of identity theft on more than one occasion and offered fans some advice to keeping themselves safe.
He continued: “It has happened to me a few times where people have stolen my identity and copied my bank card. I had someone buy a lot of white goods on my bank card but thankfully he wasn't the most intelligent and he had all the goods delivered to his address so we knew exactly where he lived.
“One thing I do want to say to people about this is that research Nationwide has done shows there's a lot of people who give too much information online on social media platforms.”
He went on: “This is quite an old school crime with me, when it comes to stealing your mail and going through that - and these people would travel from London, and they were coming out to these areas and doing these things. I just wanted to let people know you never say always check your statements and anything that you think is a bit dodgy, make sure you check out.
“Basically, just be diligent. All you have to do is just make sure you keep an eye on your bank statements and always keep an eye on your transactions, check your credit history.”
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