A Paisley woman has been conned out of £9,000 after cruel scammers convinced her to download an app to her phone.
The 58-year-old has been left devastated after being tricked into handing over the large sum of cash in the elaborate scheme.
She was contacted by professional fraudsters who told her they were from the fraud prevention team at HSBC bank and asked her if she had authorised a payment.
They then went on to reassure her that they had stopped the payment and advised her they could assist in helping secure her account.
The con artists then advised the woman to download an app onto her mobile phone named Any Desk.
Any Desk is a genuine app that allow users to gain remote access to their devices.
Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
However, it is understood these apps are commonly used by scammers to gain remote access to victim’s phones and computers.
Following a number of phone conversations with the scammers, the large sum of cash was stolen from her account.
Police in Paisley are now urging the public to remain vigilant when contacted by anyone claiming to be from their bank or any other company as impersonation fraud surges across the country.
In impersonation fraud cases, a criminal impersonates a company, business, organisation or individual as a key component, and reported cases have soared by 300 per cent since 2019.
Inspector Laura Hamill, of Paisley's community policing team, said: "The victim in this incident was left understandably distressed after having a large sum of cash stolen from her account through the use of an app which she was convinced to download to her device.
"We would encourage people to please be wary when they are contacted by anyone claiming to be from their bank or other company.
"We would always advise people to end the call and contact their bank or company claiming to verify if the call is genuine.
"These people who target individuals are professionals and can be very convincing in their attempts to get people to transfer money or allow remote access to devices.
"Never give any personal or banking details or allow anyone access to your devices and accounts without first verifying it is genuine."
Anyone with information about this kind of scam should contact Police Scotland on 101 or make a call anonymously to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
