SCAMMERS have been targeting unsuspecting victims with a fake banking app in Scotland – with one of those falling prey revealing: “Strangely, when he left, he thanked me and asked if I believed in karma.”
Members of the public in Glasgow and Edinburgh have been approached by scammers in public places, asking for money to help them get home due to their banking card supposedly malfunctioning.
The scammers have been reported to send the victims a fake transfer from a phoney app in advance, to provide the victims with a false sense of security while they withdraw money for the would-be traveller. The transfer never appears in the victim's account, with the scammer explaining the delay as being due to international transfer waiting times.
The National reached out to a victim of the scam, 28-year-old Barry Will, who was stopped in the Gyle Shopping Centre in Edinburgh and was scammed for £250.
Will told us: “He was speaking to someone else when he flagged for my attention. He explained that he was visiting Edinburgh on holiday and was supposed to be driving back to Ireland and getting the ferry home. He had a strong Irish accent.
“I listened quite suspiciously, although I’ve been in this exact situation before when travelling in Italy and found my bank card suddenly stopped working. I had to find people willing to help, and transferred them money to take out cash for me so I could get travel home.
“I told the guy that I had been in a similar situation and what I did, and he immediately offered to transfer money into my bank account. At this point I was completely willing to help him – if I can take out cash on his behalf, I thought, I see no problem with that.”
Will explained the use of the phone banking application was key to giving him a false sense of security: “He pulled up his mobile banking app, and transferred €300. It might have seemed like a lot of money, but I know the ferry is so expensive.
"When he put in my name and details, the app confirmed ‘it’s a match’ as my banking app does. I kept my eye on the app as he transferred the money, and it even showed plenty of previous transactions at different retailers before his card had supposedly stopped working – it seemed completely legitimate.
“I didn’t notice any branding of the app, it was light blue and just looked like a modern app from a bank like Monzo.
“I said I hoped he got home safe, and before I gave him the cash he offered to take my mobile number. He called me on the spot, and it came through as an Irish international number so I still did not think it was suspicious by this point, his story just got more believable. I gave him the cash and we said goodbyes.”
The scammer then left Will with an oddly ironic platitude: “Strangely, when he left, he thanked me and asked if I believed in karma.”
As a victim of the scam, Barry told of his disappointment about the societal implications of swindling people who try to help strangers.
“It’s quite upsetting to know that others in a genuine situation might now never be able to prove they truly need help, because of these scammers exploiting people's kindness," he said.
"It’s not the last time I will help someone in the street, as everyone needs help from time to time.
“We are living in such a broken county right now, and it’s sad that people are having to resort to scamming their own neighbours.”
Will also called on the police to do more to tackle such scams.
He said: “I contacted the police about half an hour later when I called my friend to check in cause it didn’t feel right and she found an article online about the fake banking app.
“I don’t think the police are taking it seriously enough. I know they are already overwhelmed by severe budget cuts, although this is clearly a big issue right now and I think they should be patrolling stations.
"They should also be giving all spaces with security like shopping centres guidance on what to watch out for.
“They need to know it’s an issue first, and I don’t think it’s particularly time consuming for the police to notify them if it stops so many people being scammed.”
This scam has also been reported in Glasgow, by another would-be victim.
They said: “A smartly dressed guy came up to me and said he spent all his money on getting smart clothes and the bus to Glasgow to do an interview for a job he desperately needed. Then he said he needed £10 to get back home on the bus.
“He also pulled out his phone to show me there was 90p in his account although this can so easily be faked. I said I would buy the ticket at the station but wouldn’t send him money and he just said thanks anyway and left.
“I told this story to my flatmate when I got home and turns out he’d bumped into maybe the same guy the week before and given him the money – he didn’t tell me about it because he realised it was a scam and was too embarrassed to admit he got done.”
Another anonymous victim in Glasgow expressed their feelings about the realities of scams in cities: “I didn’t even report it - just learned my lesson not to believe everyone on their word. Sad when you think about it but that’s city life”
Police Scotland was approached for comment.
